


The Fourth Hokage's Son

by SyrinxSilenus



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24356911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyrinxSilenus/pseuds/SyrinxSilenus
Summary: When Itachi Uchiha went on a mission on the land of Earth, he didn't imagine that he would be in a kind of situation wherein the lives of the missing wife of the Fourth Hokage and his unknown son depends on him. Considering that he only had seconds to decide, he assumed that he had chosen correctly. Afterall, the Fourth Hokage would be willing to go to war for his family, right?
Relationships: Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 56
Kudos: 56





	1. Prologue: The Catalyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This story is inspired by 'The Lost Namikaze' written by FaerieLight (It was a story abandoned years ago, and so I adopted the concept but rewrite the whole thing according to my imagination. So there's nothing similar aside from the basic plot. Have fun reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own ANY Naruto characters, these awesome characters belongs to Kishimoto.

**A/N:** This story is inspired by 'The Lost Namikaze' written by FaerieLight (It was a story abandoned years ago, and so I adopted the concept but rewrite the whole thing according to my imagination. So there's nothing similar aside from the basic plot. Have fun reading!

* * *

**Special Mention to my awesome betas**

**o0CrimsonsDragon0o**

**Roseeye (** My former beta, she helped me until Chapter One but she had urgent matters to attend to, thank you so much for all your hard work.)

**Kuroi raion**

**NeatStuff**

**Nedoko-maki**

**hakon2feb**

**13talos**

**ProngIsABadger**

**Ladybirdwrites**

**Go18**

* * *

**IMPORTANT A/N: (July 27, 2020)** I'm so sorry for not updating for more than a month, I want to do a major clean up before posting the next chapters. When I first started writing this story, I really didn't know where I'm going after a couple of ideas I've written. More than a month of Hiatus finally gave me the exact direction of where this story is going. Everything is happening as planned, but a few chapters from the start didn't add up with where I wanted this story to go, so I have to do a few revisions here and there. Not much though, so the story still stayed the same. A few things had been changed though, such as the Elder council's position and a few things to clear up so it wouldn't clash with the next chapters of the story. From Prologue to chapter 4, a few things had been changed so don't be confused guys. Thank you so much to all the people that followed and favorited this story. Those who reviewed, I appreciate you all. Just want to say that I read all your reviews and answer all your questions as much as I can. I'm always online so don't hesitate to pm me if you have questions. For story updates, check my profile because I always post my story's progress and updates there.

 **Feb. 2, 2021:** I'm so sorry if there are confusions with the chapters. I accidentally mess it up while editing. Here is the fixed one.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own ANY Naruto characters, these awesome characters belong to Kishimoto.

* * *

_**The Fourth Hokage's Son** _

written by: _**SyrinxSilenus**_

_**Prologue:** _

Itachi Uchiha had never run so fast in his life. Feet flying, he couldn't catch a break.

He knew, with cold certainty, that if he stopped even for a moment – his knees would buckle; and then they really would catch him.

His mind went back to an hour before. Time had passed too quickly ever since he'd made the hardest decision of his life. Which might have triggered another Shinobi War, the very one that would brand him a traitor and be executed on the spot.

Itachi didn't like wars. He detested them. However, with what was at stake, he knew that this would result in war. He had to decide whether to turn a blind eye or fight tooth and nail for what he believed was right, and Itachi was nothing but a fighter.

Although he only had seconds to decide, he believed that he at least made the right choice. After all, there would have been war regardless of his interference. At least, in this case, Konoha would have an advantage.

He could only hope that he would at least be granted an opportunity to speak with the Hokage. As of now, all he was certain of was that his comrades had safely made it to Konoha and reported the current situation to the Hokage.

No matter what, he couldn't fail now. This was something only he could do. Failure wasn't an option. Even still, sometimes, Itachi wondered when had his life became so complicated? Was it when he started knowing chakra? Or when he activated his Sharingan at age eight?

Ever since he was branded a prodigy, obligation after obligation had been dumped on his small shoulders without consideration for his age. Now that he thought of it, it had all started when he graduated from the academy and became an official active Shinobi of the village.

He was always forced into situations where he needed to make a life-changing decision. From disobeying his father's wish of starting his training as a clan head and instead, joined the Hokage's personal ANBU guards; he had always been forced to choose between his village and family.

Itachi was used to being the keeper of promises… the bearer of conflicts. However, when he had been assigned that recon mission, he hadn't expected _this_.

His fully matured Sharingan eyes stared down at the bundle in his arms.

The child who would be the catalyst to another life-changing conflict, the Fourth Shinobi World War.

The Four-year-old boy was currently clinging onto him with an arm wrapped tightly around his neck, refusing to loosen his grip; as if letting go would result in his death. A blond tuft of hair peeked from the grey blanket wrapped around the boy and a white injured rabbit was wrapped tightly, yet delicately on the child's trembling arm.

The child was scared, but he still refused to cry. It was a kind of bravery that many in his village were known for. The only indication of the boy's fear was the tightening of his hold around Itachi's neck and the coldness of his hands.

Itachi was brought out from his quiet musing when he heard the sound of rapid steps from another team of Iwagakure Shinobi pursuing him even near the border of the Land of Fire.

They were persistent. They should have backed off when he neared the frontier, but it was clear that they were determined to retrieve the child from him even if they stepped into the enemy's territory.

Itachi tightened his grip on the child as he thought of the possibility of war, countless deaths because of this child and—

He furiously shook his head to wipe away those terrifying thoughts and pushed his tired legs on faster as he dodged the earth style jutsu aimed at him in order to slow him down.

Itachi jumped and flipped in the air to dodge the attack, making sure that his grip was tight enough to not let go of the boy.

He felt the hold on his neck tightened as he attacked one Iwa Shinobi with a chakra-enhanced kick to the gut before leaping and fleeing through the trees.

He could've subdued those sorry excuses of a shinobi if he wasn't carrying the child in his arms, but he couldn't afford to get the child injured, or risk him being taken away. And thus, he solely focused on escaping.

He couldn't waste more time fighting, soon many more Iwa-nin would be dispatched; then it would be impossible to reach Konoha safely, if at all. He needed to avoid being injured at all costs. He needed to make it back to Konoha and see the Hokage.

Whether this incident started a war or not, he knew one thing for certain – _the Fourth Hokage would gladly fight for his wife and son._

He glanced down again at the frightened child in his arm and the injured white rabbit.

' _I will make sure that they get back to Konoha together.'_

He steeled his resolve and sprinted towards Konoha at a speed he never knew he was capable of.

***PROLOGUE END***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Special thanks to my betas! This wouldn't be possible without your awesome help.
> 
> o0CrimsonsDragon0o
> 
> Roseeye (My former beta, she helped me until Chapter One but she had urgent matters to attend to, thank you so much for all your hard work.)
> 
> Kuroi raion
> 
> NeatStuff
> 
> Nedoko-maki
> 
> hakon2feb
> 
> 13talos
> 
> ProngIsABadger
> 
> Ladybirdwrites
> 
> Go18


	2. Chapter 1: Minato Namikaze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Special thanks to my betas! This wouldn't be possible without your awesome help.
> 
> o0CrimsonsDragon0o
> 
> Kuroi raion
> 
> NeatStuff
> 
> Nedoko-maki
> 
> hakon2feb
> 
> 13talos
> 
> ProngIsABadger
> 
> Ladybirdwrites
> 
> Go18

**IMPORTANT A/N: (July 27, 2020)** I'm so sorry for not updating for more than a month, I want to do a major clean up before posting the next chapters. When I first started writing this story, I really didn't know where I'm going after a couple of ideas I've written. More than a month of Hiatus finally gave me the exact direction of where this story is going. Everything is happening as planned, but a few chapters from the start didn't add up with where I wanted this story to go, so I have to do a few revisions here and there. Not much though, so the story still stayed the same. A few things had been changed though, such as the Elder council's position and a few things to clear up so it wouldn't clash with the next chapters of the story. From Prologue to chapter 4, a few things had been changed so don't be confused guys. Thank you so much to all the people that followed and favorited this story. Those who reviewed, I appreciate you all. Just want to say that I read all your reviews and answer all your questions as much as I can. I'm always online so don't hesitate to pm me if you have questions. For story updates, check my profile because I always post my story's progress and updates there.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own ANY Naruto characters, these awesome characters belong to Kishimoto.

* * *

_**The Fourth Hokage's Son** _

_**Chapter One** _

The Council room was filled with tension and panic of the civilian members and a few heads of smaller clans as they heard the first few sentences from Ibiki Morino's report.

_'Itachi Uchiha appears to have kidnapped an Iwa child and is now running at full speed towards Konoha with Iwa Shinobi in pursuit. The Tsuchikage is demanding for the child's immediate return, otherwise, Iwa will declare war on Konoha.'_

"Who would have thought that he would do such a thing?" One of the civilian council members asked in disbelief, and the rest followed left and right as they voiced out their own protests.

"The boy has gone mad!" the Kurama clan head viciously snarled, and the other clan heads nodded in agreement.

"He kidnapped a child from Iwa and is coming here! Is he trying to start another war!?" Koharu, one of the 'former' personal advisers of the Third Hokage asked in indignation.

_"Hokage-sama! We must stop Itachi Uchiha!"_

_"We must execute him and send the child back to Iwa!"_

_"Hokage-sama!"_

One after the other, the civilian council members and the head of the smaller clans protested while the major clans stayed silent, making the Hokage's eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage of Konoha, pretended not to hear the council members around him, opting to stare directly at Fugaku Uchiha; the Uchiha clan's leader.

Onyx's eyes clashed with calm cerulean. One glance was all Minato needed to know that the Uchiha clan head was worried, but he still refrained from defending his son to avoid making the situation worse. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio remained neutral as well and Hiashi and Shibi simply looked contemplative but didn't join the uproar – and for that, the blond Kage was grateful.

The other clans though, Kurama, Onikuma, Tenma, and the Shimura Clan led by Danzo were giving Minato a headache. With all of these happening, plus the shrieking voices of the three civilian councilmen and the two elders; the Fourth Hokage was rapidly reaching his wit's end.

"Ibiki..." Minato's voice, calm yet full of authority, rang through the noise; making every single person in the room go still.

"You said that Itachi went missing from the squad an hour after arriving at your destination," Minato pointed out calmly.

Ibiki cleared his throat as he stood in front of the council. He stared directly towards the calm Hokage, nodding before answering, "Yes, Hokage-sama. Everything seemed normal when we left for the recon mission; even as we traveled until we dispersed to conduct our individual investigations," Ibiki paused for a second as if reliving the events in his mind again before continuing.

"There were three hours allotted for each member to return. However, Itachi never came back and the squad began to search for him. No one found a trace of him until there was an explosion north of where everyone was searching. Immediately, the squad came to investigate the site; what they saw was only the remnants of the previous battle that took place not too long before their arrival. The squad began their search again from there and, after a few minutes, another explosion was heard. Afterward, we finally saw Itachi fleeing while carrying something that somewhat resembled that of a child." Ibiki reported, his gruff voice resonating around the quiet room.

In truth, Ibiki couldn't care less about the outbursts from the various voices in the room. He was a Shinobi of the Leaf and his duty was to his village and he answered only to its Hokage. If he was being honest with himself, Ibiki didn't question the young Uchiha's sanity.

Itachi was an intelligent Shinobi and he didn't believe that the teenager was someone who did things without considering the outcome of his actions.

Ibiki knew that there was more to the situation than meets the eye. As the head of the T&I division, he believed in what they all had been taught at one time or another… _'A shinobi must know how to look underneath the underneath.'_

These noisy fools; however, didn't even reach the criteria of a proper Shinobi.

_'How disappointing.'_

Choosing to not voice his own opinion, Ibiki continued his report.

"We immediately tried to block his way and inquire after him but he wouldn't let us. He fled and we gave chase. Itachi did his best to lose us and refused our questions – said he would only speak with you, Hokage-sama," Ibiki paused here to lock eyes with their blond leader.

Minato nodded as if understanding what Ibiki was trying to say. He would deal with this incident personally – for Itachi's sake.

Ibiki nodded back and directed his gaze to the council members before continuing, "Finally, our Team saw that his charge was in fact a child around the age of four. The boy was clinging to Itachi and he was clutching him as though his life depended on it."

Minato frowned as opinions were voiced once more with renewed vigor.

"Hokage-sama, we must detain him immediately. He will bring war upon us if we don't act now, Iwa will not let this opportunity go. It's an excuse they have been looking for this entire time!" Koharu once again insisted while a few of the council members nodded their agreements as they talked among themselves.

Arguments began anew with angry voices taking over the meeting, each trying to cut off another to be heard.

 _'So much for defusing the earlier uproar,'_ Minato refrained from sighing loudly and massaging the bridge of his nose.

 _'Seriously, sometimes I can't believe they are members of the council,'_ Minato thought in exasperation.

 _'Why do they insist on making my job harder?'_ He felt an incoming headache as he tried to muffle the noises around him.

_'Kushina, if only you were here...'_

Minato raised his hand and everyone quieted down _._

 _'Good. At least they remember that they answer to me.'_ Minato mused to himself, already on the verge of exploding despite his veil of patience.

"You are all jumping to conclusions. From what I know of him, Itachi Uchiha isn't one to act rashly; if he's risking a war with his action, then he must have a reason for doing so. I refuse to harm one of my most talented shinobis based on conjecture," Minato calmly stated, pausing as he saw the protests coming.

"B-but Hokage-sama-"

"No," Minato interrupted the elder Koharu in a firm tone.

"Konoha will not turn into a dog with its tail between its legs. I refuse to cower from Iwa. If they declare war, I will deal with their army myself," he declared with a deadly glint in his eyes, making the council shiver in fear despite themselves.

They all clamped down, afraid to oppose their Hokage. Minato wasn't like his predecessor. The Third had tolerated complaints from the council and could be easily swayed by sentiments. The Fourth Hokage on the other hand didn't take kindly to their mind games. They'd had to learn that the hard way.

Minato Namikaze was a sleeping dragon. A quiet but deadly shinobi who hid behind the veil of a calm and cheerful personality. This personality made him dangerous as a person and as a shinobi, but as a Hokage? The shinobi side of the council shivered in dread just by imagining the things the blond could do when provoked.

Minato wasn't afraid to take drastic measures. He had the power to do whatever he wanted and the council could do nothing but to try to reason with him if they wanted something to go their way; and even then – when the blond Hokage had already made up his mind – nothing could change it.

Minato was precautious, he didn't just let things happen without good reason. He planned his every step and calculated many possible scenarios before making a decision.

He had a sharp mind that could rival the Nara's. He was the kind of Kage that would only appear once in a century; one of the brightest gems shinobi villages rarely produced, and Konoha had him as their leader. That was why many hidden villages avoided any conflicts with Konoha with Minato Namikaze as their Hokage.

His reputation was known all over the elemental nations and had the highest bounty in the Bingo book with a _'Flee on sight'_ order. He had single-handedly destroyed Iwa and claimed victory in the Third Shinobi War; and until now, Iwa was still recovering from their many losses. Although that resulted in them harboring great resentment towards the blond Hokage.

Minato was also infamous in Kumo when he bested A in a battle of speed in an encounter with his brother, Bee – the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi. Suffice to say, A was still bitter up to this day and would most likely demand a rematch if they were to cross paths again.

The bottom line was that Iwa knew better than anyone that they could not match Konohagakure's military might as long as the Yellow Flash was still alive. Though it was amusing how Iwa still had the gall to pull a _'war threat'_ that both villages knew they couldn't afford at the time.

 _'It looks like you have gone senile in your old age Onoki. Iwa declaring war on Konoha was suicide. You can't handle our forces yet,'_ the famed Yellow Flash thought amusedly.

Though the council members seemed to have different thoughts, at least they knew better than to keep on opposing his decisions.

The blond knew that with Hiruzen, the council would've pushed and argued further; but with him, that would have only gotten them a massive dose of Killing Intent for their troubles. And thus, the council members wisely clamped their mouths shut.

It was unfortunate that his own personal advisers were not present: Tsunade was currently stuck in the hospital with an important surgery, Jiraiya had asked for a couple of months left to do his important 'research'; and the Third was in an extended anniversary celebration with his wife, Biwako. Well, at least he still had Shikaku. He exchanged a meaningful glance with the Jounin commander before his thoughts went to his students. His three students: Obito, Kakashi, and Rin were both on a long mission away from the village; they would be back soon, but for the time being, he was on his own. Minato had to endure the inconvenience just until his important people returned.

The Fourth shifted his gaze onto each member of the council and nodded his head, satisfied with their compliance – as reluctant as it was.

"That's all for now. You are dismissed."

The council and the clan heads stared at each other doubtfully; silently debating whether they should protest or just leave the council room for now. Most decided that it was too troublesome to argue with the Hokage and went out of the door, while few still hesitated.

"Fugaku, can I speak with you," The remaining people watched the Uchiha Clan head with a raised brow as the blond addressed him.

Fugaku stood up with a serious face as an acknowledgment of the Hokage's call. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Minato stared pointedly at the remaining people, which consisted of the two council elders and Danzo Shimura.

The three thorns in his side he'd been trying to get rid of for the last couple of years since he took the seat. It was not that he was plotting an assassination to murder the three elders, but he did his best to try and remove the power that fell on their hands since Hiruzen's sentiment had given them more influence than Minato was comfortable with.

He wondered what the Third was thinking when he appointed these selfish people as his advisers before. He should have given a much more thorough assessment before he appointed these three as the central power in the council that could rival even the Hokage's own.

Hiruzen gave them too much freedom and power to wield, and they didn't hesitate to take advantage of the privilege that was given to them on a silver platter. It was like the Third had just given his children their favorite toys, a very dangerous toy that shouldn't fall in the hands of greedy, careless children. These Elders feasted on their power like a simple toy when in fact it was not. All these games they were playing around wielding their authority like a plaything to boast over their playmates without considering the dangers others could represent would those toys be stolen.

Those three were a much bigger headache than newly minted Genin.

It was a good thing that he had managed to take care of their unreasonable amount of power in the council earlier in his appointment, if he hadn't, who knows how far these elders would wield their power to carry out their own agenda?

Minato repressed the urge to sigh and instead raised a delicate, blond eyebrow at them as the three stared at each other.

One brave elder, Koharu Utatane, stepped forward and attempted to challenge Minato with another verbal argument – unfortunately for her though, the Fourth was not in the mood to tolerate more of their nonsense.

"We are not yet done Minato; we think you are being too reckless. We need to deal with this matter immediately and stop an in-" Koharu abruptly stopped talking when Minato cut her off.

"Hokage-sama."

Opening and closing her mouth like a fish, Koharu flushed in embarrassment and anger at being reprimanded like a child by the young Hokage.

"You _will_ call me Hokage-sama. That is only proper don't you think? You are only a member of my council, not my parents. Do remember that you hold no authority over me."

The elders trembled in fury at Minato's chastising as if they were mere children in his eyes. They looked at him in contempt as he raised one eyebrow and the ancient volcanoes could not help but erupt. Sadly for them, Minato didn't have the patience to tolerate their tantrums right now.

"Watch how you speak boy! We are the elders and–" Danzo started with a cold tone, only to be abruptly cut off.

"–And I am your Hokage. You should know your rightful place without needing to be reminded. Maybe you've forgotten that you are no longer my personal advisers. I may have given you enough privilege to voice out a few pieces of advice here and there, but that is no invitation to disrespect me and question my authority," His eyes gleamed dangerously as he stared at the sour faces of the three elders.

"You advise for the sake of the village, but the final decision is still mine to make– whether I follow through or not, You. Do. NOT. Have a say in it." Minato spat, adding more conviction with each word, "The ones who are being disrespectful here are you three. If you wish to still sit at the positions you have grown so fond of over the years, I suggest you make your way out the door before I make the ANBU drag you out," Minato said sternly.

The elders sputtered and were about to protest again when four ANBU suddenly dropped down in front of the Fourth Hokage in a protective, yet threatening manner. Koharu, Hamura, and Danzo clenched their teeth and quietly made their way outside the room.

Minato signed for his ANBU to guard the door before he looked at Fugaku with a small, calm smile, "Now where were we?"

Fugaku bowed respectfully towards Minato, "I believe you wanted to talk to me about my son," the Uchiha clan head answered, directly to the point, as expected.

Minato smirked at his old-time comrade and clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"Straight forward as always," Minato said with the ghost of an amused smile on his lips before his face became serious again.

"What do you think?" The blond asked, as he sat on his seat and propped his elbows on the desk, lacing his fingers together in front of him as he looked expectantly at the Uchiha clan head.

Fugaku stayed quiet for a minute, contemplating what to say.

"I believe...That my son is not an irrational person. He has never done something without considering the consequences of the decisions he's made. He isn't impulsive and he always has the village's well-being in mind. He's a loyal Konoha shinobi. However, if he really did snap, I am prepared to surrender him to the T&I. As the Uchiha clan head, that is my duty, even though he is my son."

Minato smiled upon hearing Fugaku's answer. He looked the Uchiha clan head directly in the eyes with a sharp edge hidden behind his alluring cerulean orbs.

"I believe the same thing as well. I have faith in Itachi. Whatever his reason for kidnapping the child, it must mean there are facts that we are not aware of right now."

Fugaku solemnly agreed with what Minato said. Finally assured that his son wouldn't be executed on the spot, the Uchiha's facial expression and posture relaxed.

"Fugaku," Minato calmly said, catching the Uchiha's attention back to him.

The older Uchiha stared directly at the cerulean eyes of the Hokage and he couldn't help but straighten up upon seeing the commanding air surrounding their young leader.

Fugaku himself wanted to become Hokage before Minato was elected as the Fourth, he was bitter for a while when he wasn't chosen to be the Third Hokage's successor, and yet, as time went by and he watched Konoha prosper remarkably under Minato's reign, Fugaku finally threw away his pride.

Minato really deserved the position and coming from Fugaku himself, which could possibly be the best compliment he had ever said to someone outside their clan.

Fugaku believed in Minato's decisions. Time and time again, he proved that there were other options to choose from than the ones laid out in front of you.

If there are two options, yet both seem too negative and have potential backlashes that could be worse than the current problem at hand, then create a new option that will lead towards the favored outcome rather than making unnecessary sacrifices. That was how Minato Namikaze played his game.

Many international incidents had been amazingly avoided with the young Hokage's quick thinking and sharp mind.

The Yellow Flash of Konoha was really a force to be reckoned with, and Fugaku acknowledged Minato's power and authority as a Hokage. So he silently supported Minato in all of his decisions, and so far the Fourth Hokage had not disappointed the Uchiha Clan Head yet.

He knew now that whatever their blond leader was thinking – his eldest son's life depended on it. That was why Fugaku would follow through with the Fourth's decisions until the very end. For he believed in Minato's Will of Fire.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he answered, his face solemn.

"I want you and your chosen shinobi to escort Itachi to Konoha and bring him directly to me. He will answer to no one's inquiry but mine. Understood?" The blond ordered. His voice was laced with silent authority, conveying the importance of the mission to the Uchiha patriarch.

Fugaku stood in attention and answered the order. "Understood Hokage-sama."

Minato smiled as he stood up, walking around his desk to his friend, and clamped a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Then I trust you to deliver Itachi Uchiha directly to me, alive with the child he rescued. Dismissed," Minato tightened his grip on the Uchiha's shoulder once more before dropping his hand back to his side as Fugaku bowed in respect before leaving the council room.

The Fourth Hokage let out a tired sigh as he gazed outside the large window of the Hokage Tower.

"What could have pushed you to make such a drastic decision, Itachi-kun?" The blond leader whispered to the wind as he looked down at the buzzing streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

_***END OF CHAPTER ONE*** _

* * *

**DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS**

I only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, If you hate my story, please just stop reading it. This is my first Naruto fanfic, and I love Naruto. I don't want to leave the fandom because of many toxic fans so those who love it, enjoy reading!

_**SyrinxSilenus** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS
> 
> I only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, If you hate my story, please just stop reading it. This is my first Naruto fanfic, and I love Naruto, I don't want to leave the fandom because of many toxic fans so, those who love it, enjoy reading!


	3. Chapter 2: Itachi Uchiha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Special thanks to my betas! This wouldn't be possible without your awesome help.
> 
> o0CrimsonsDragon0o
> 
> Kuroi raion
> 
> NeatStuff
> 
> Nedoko-maki
> 
> hakon2feb
> 
> 13talos
> 
> ProngIsABadger
> 
> Ladybirdwrites
> 
> Go18

**IMPORTANT A/N: (July 27, 2020)** I'm so sorry for not updating for more than a month, I want to do a major clean up before posting the next chapters. When I first started writing this story, I really didn't know where I'm going after a couple of ideas I've written. More than a month of Hiatus finally gave me the exact direction of where this story is going. Everything is happening as planned, but a few chapters from the start didn't add up with where I wanted this story to go, so I have to do a few revisions here and there. Not much though, so the story still stayed the same. A few things had been changed though, such as the Elder council's position and a few things to clear up so it wouldn't clash with the next chapters of the story. From Prologue to chapter 4, a few things had been changed so don't be confused guys. Thank you so much to all the people that followed and favorited this story. Those who reviewed, I appreciate you all. Just want to say that I read all your reviews and answer all your questions as much as I can. I'm always online so don't hesitate to pm me if you have questions. For story updates, check my profile because I always post my story's progress and updates there.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own ANY Naruto characters, these awesome characters belong to Kishimoto.

* * *

_**The Fourth Hokage's son** _

_**Chapter Two** _

It had been an hour since they arrived at their intended location and the signal for their individual investigation was finally initiated by their current squad leader, the newly appointed Dog, Hatake Kakashi's mask successor. Even the infamous Ibiki Morino was with them, doing a personal investigation on behalf of the Hokage.

Itachi Uchiha didn't really know what he was supposed to be looking for. All he knew was that there had been a report about an incident occurring somewhere near the border of the Fire country and they were sent to investigate what was going on. Though if Itachi really thought about it, he presumed that the Hokage was still looking for a clue regarding his late wife's kidnapping four years ago.

Four years ago, Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, the secret wife of the Fourth Hokage had been reported missing after going on a simple B-Rank Mission to a small village near the border of the Land of Fire. The mission was supposed to take at most three days. However, even after a week had passed, there had been no signs of the redhead passing through the gates of Konoha.

The Fourth Hokage had nearly gone insane with worry, his unusual behavior was more than enough to tip off the whole ninja world that said redhead was someone that he held very dearly, some even going so far as to say that they were a couple and very much in love. They weren't wrong.

His killing intent had coated Konoha in a thick, suffocating smog that persisted, day in and day out; simultaneous heart attacks happening here and there due to the all-consuming viscosity of the aura. Because of this, his three personal advisers, his students, and all his friends had tried to comfort and calm the panicking Hokage; but the man had not been placated in the slightest. He was practically hyperventilating, and to this day, any of the surviving elders from the time said that he appeared to be crazed enough to take on a whole army single-handedly.

At that time, for the first time in Shinobi history; the calm, level-headed, and cheerful Yellow Flash, Fourth Hokage of Konoha – looked ready to snap, and that look had frightened those who saw it personally far more than any nation's threat of war.

The Hokage had sent many Shinobi to look for any trace of his wife and any possible clues and trails that may lead them to find her. They were all expressly told by terrified Chunin paper-pushers at the Mission Desk, that they must be very thorough in their task, lest the Yellow Flash of Konoha would really snap and go on an indiscriminate killing spree in search of his wife.

Although thorough they were, the result was the same. There was no sign of Kushina Uzumaki. They had managed to find the three-pronged kunai of the Fourth Hokage near Nami no Kuni, but aside from that; they had all returned empty-handed.

Fraught with despair, the man didn't even sleep or eat properly for a full month, and still, the following month wasn't even better at all. The young leader buried himself deeper and deeper in his duty as a Hokage, his already impressive skills honed to an even finer razor-sharp edge.

Although Konoha benefited from the sudden change of personality from their famed Hokage, the cause was too depressing to warrant a celebration.

Four years later, and the bags under the Hokage's eyes hadn't disappeared or lessened, but with the help of his sensei, Jiraiya the Toad Sannin; he pulled through – barely.

He hadn't moved on from his beloved wife, and it looked like he wasn't planning to move on at all. The news put a damper on his fangirls in the village that had gained new hope. Minato Namikaze was determined to love no one but Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, and to the despair of all of the blond's fangirls, it looked like the Fourth would stay a widower for the rest of his life unless his wife miraculously reappeared.

Itachi didn't care much about the fangirls' issues. However, on the other hand, the 14-year-old Uchiha certainly cared for the Hokage's health and wellbeing. Itachi couldn't hide the frown that ghosted his worried face every time he glanced at their Kage.

Seeing their kind leader in silent despair, still mourning for his most likely dead wife made Itachi drop into a melancholic mood. This was especially painful to him since he was one of the Hokage's personal guards, his Kage's pain exposed to him practically every day.

If Itachi could do something about it, he would do it without a second thought. Minato Namikaze had done a lot for the village, especially for the Uchiha. The young Hokage had saved the Uchiha clan from their demise when the clan was on the brink of planning a coup d'état.

He'd opened up new opportunities and acknowledged the Uchiha by suggesting to Itachi's father that he should permit people outside of the clan to join the Uchiha Police Force; and Fugaku Uchiha, father of Itachi Uchiha, clan head of one of Konoha's founding clans agreed, albeit rather reluctantly.

Surprisingly, in contrast to everyone's expectations, people outside of the Uchiha clan actually started applying more and more to the Police Force Department, from different clans of Konoha to the civilian sectors of the village.

The applications to be approved piled up like a mountain in his father's office one day that left many visiting Uchiha elders gaping in bemused astonishment.

However, that was just the start of the many developments that the Fourth Hokage did for the sake of the Uchiha. Little by little, the citizens of Konoha started to feel comfortable with the Uchiha clan and proceeded to cautiously interact with its clan members.

Soon, the members of the clan were not the only ones living on the outskirts of the village that was the Uchiha district. Shinobi of several different clans started living inside the compound and occupied buildings and land that had been empty up until that point. This was when the previous quiet neighborhood of the Uchiha became a lively district that many villagers visited in order to relax and to try exploring the food carts and other goods.

The Uchiwa fans, especially those that were paper and had pretty designs, were becoming the new trend in Konoha in recent times, and one could only imagine why that could be. Soon, the wall that Tobirama Senju, Second Hokage of Konoha, had created to divide and isolate the Uchiha clan from the village, had been destroyed, much to the everlasting joy of the clan and never-ending horror of the elder council.

The peace among the other clans and the citizens of Konoha to the Uchiha clan wasn't perfect, but still, the difference that the Fourth Hokage had created did wonder for the clan's confidence.

The results of the Yellow Flash's hard work seemed so surreal that it made Itachi itch to form the hand sign for the Genjutsu release every time he walked his way home from a mission with an air of satisfaction surrounding his body. The peace they were now feeling was sort of a dream come true for the young ANBU.

The Uchiha were now slowly becoming one with the Konoha populace, and he had the Fourth Hokage to thank for that.

So Itachi made it his personal mission to secretly do him a few little favors here and there, such as help with cleaning his desk whenever the young Hokage fell asleep after reading and stamping a pile of papers on his desk, making him coffee before he woke up and many other small things the young Uchiha refused to mention.

Of course, Itachi never said anything about these small favors. In fact, he made sure that the Fourth wouldn't know that it was him who was responsible for these little things, yet, Itachi felt like the Hokage still knew that it was his doing - _if his small smiles and out of nowhere gratitude was any indication._

He was elated when he saw the Hokage smile again because it had been the first time in a very long time since the Hokage had smiled in front of anyone. He still did these little favors whenever he had a chance just to see that smile of his, small as it may have been.

So when he stumbled over a four-year-old boy who looked like a complete minified replica of _the_ legendary Yellow Flash in the middle of tree hopping–who was at that time playing with a bunch of what was undoubtedly Kyuubi's chakra surrounding him–it made something short-circuit in the masked Uchiha's mind.

The combined effect of the dark, suffocating chakra and the sheer disbelief when faced with the impossible, made the heir of the Uchiha a genius said to rival the likes of Madara and Hashirama… _slip_.

The instant he started falling, Itachi's reflexes kicked in as he threw out a spool of thin steel wire that quickly coiled around a nearby tree, yanking hard on the wire. Soon after he regained his foothold and gently allowed himself to slide down the tree all the way to the ground.

He had not allowed himself to fall in what seemed like ages, and a sense of shame tickled his neck as he realized he had let himself be stunned enough to lose all of his concentration. He immediately pushed those thoughts out of his head as he just stared at the surprised blond kid who looked near the age of his younger brother.

 _'Four years ago,'_ were the words echoing inside the Uchiha Prodigy's mind, many scenarios and possibilities flitting through his mind as he processed this earth-shattering information.

The kid looked at him with wonder in those oh-so-cerulean eyes, slightly dazed from the intruder's lightning-fast entrance.

But he recovered fast and leaped up, grinning and pointing at the equally dazed teenager in glee.

"Hey, are you gonna try to catch me like those other pweople?"

Itachi blinked in response, opening his mouth to answer but apparently the blink was all the excited blond needed for confirmation, and he took off like a rocket, yelling things like " _Catch me if you can!"_ and " _So slow!"_

Of course, Itachi quickly leaped in pursuit, but the most bizarre and impossible thing kept happening. Whenever he was sure he was close or anywhere near to the speedy kid, somehow, he kept on escaping his grasp time and time again.

It was truly incomprehensible to the dark-haired ANBU how this could even be possible.

It was a good three hours later before Itachi gave up, sitting his heaving body against one of the many trees dotted around. If anyone saw how the ever composed and cool-headed Itachi Uchiha was bested by a four-year-old in speed, he would unquestionably become the laughingstock of their clan and even the village. His father would undoubtedly look at him with a scandalized expression and immediately restart his training from scratch and Itachi would do it gladly.

The 14-year-old Uchiha looked up from his quiet musing when he heard a boisterous laugh in front of him. And there was the little devil, cackling at the Uchiha's suffering as he clutched his stomach and pointed a shaking finger towards Itachi's prone figure; tears were prickling at the corners of his eyes as he kept on guffawing.

A rare twinge of irritation prickled the edge of the teenager's mind as he watched the little rascal whiz in front of him with so much laughter that it looked like he was just a second from rolling on the ground in his merriment.

Realizing his appearance was pretty much in shambles in front of the kid, Itachi grunted in annoyance, and with all the grace of the Uchiha Heir and clan prodigy could manage, Itachi picked himself up from the ground and dusted off the dirt and numerous leaves from his ANBU uniform.

He slowly made his way towards the laughing child and couldn't help but see the uncanny resemblance he had with a certain redhead who had been responsible for the countless pranks in Konoha and numerous wreckages many years ago with her non-stop pranking until her sudden disappearance four years ago.

Itachi hid his accelerating heartbeat with a blank, stoic face as he knelt in front of the child. The said child had tried to stop himself from laughing by stifling his mouth with both of his chubby hands but was currently failing miserably at doing so.

He could practically see a faint silhouette of the Fourth Hokage grinning sheepishly while rubbing a hand at the back of his head, and by his side was a familiar, mischievous looking redhead, cackling evilly.

It was almost like he was seeing a ghost as he slowly touched the boy's whiskered cheeks, and the child stared at him in surprise and a small measure of suspicion.

Itachi silently gulped once before he opened his mouth to speak, afraid that his voice would crack.

"Hello, my name is…Itachi. What's your name?" Itachi greeted the boy, tone gentle, trying to soothe any suspicions that the boy may harbor.

He also knew that he was breaking more than a few rules by using his real name instead of his ANBU nickname ' _Weasel_ _'_ , but a nagging feeling that lying to this child would only result in more distrust changed his mind.

The child scrutinized Itachi with sharp eyes beyond his age, then as if coming to a decision,

"My name's Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, dattebayo!" he greeted enthusiastically, unaware of his slightly gibberish way of talking. He grinned so wide at Itachi that it made his own cheeks feel _sore_ , but at the same time, his entire body felt incredibly numb.

Both last names echoed inside his head like it was an empty cave.

Itachi swallowed thickly again, unbidden hope was slowly creeping into his whole body as he heard the familiar surnames straight from the boy's mouth.

The young Uchiha opened and closed his mouth a few times in hesitation before he finally let out the question that he really wanted to ask since he saw the boy which would either confirm or extinguish what his intuition said.

"D-Do you have someone with you?" he asked tentatively, almost dreading to hear the answer but still holding onto a single, thin thread of hope.

"Mommy?" The boy asked curiously as he stared at the Uchiha innocently.

Itachi's palms became clammy as he nodded. "Y-yes, do you know what's her name?" he calmly asked, as he stared at the boy expectantly.

Itachi felt the world stop as the boy gave him a Minato-like grin as he happily answered his question.

"Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, dattebayo!" The boy said as he punched his fist upward in a victorious pose.

And Itachi's world spun under him.

Feeling the strength of his legs leaving him momentarily, he slowly sat on the grass in front of the boy. The weight of the world dumped on his already burdened shoulders again, once more the ironclad chains weighed down his mind and body. It was almost unbearable.

And yet he kept on going, one stifling step at a time. It was the least he could do for his Hokage.

He took off his mask. Another regulation that had been broken, but he was sure that the Hokage would forgive him for this. The ANBU commander, on the other hand, was sure to tear him a new one though.

"Naruto. Do you know where your mother is?" Itachi asked, his onyx orbs looking deep into the boy's eyes, the question seeming casual but the implications reaching deep into his soul.

With that, the boy's eyes widened as if he suddenly remembered something. "A-Ah! mommy's hurt! We need to go to the doctor! Mommy said bad people are coming–" And then the boy abruptly stopped and recoiled away from him as if stung.

"A-are you a bad guy?" The boy, Naruto, asked Itachi with fear in his eyes.

Even though his speech pattern was not yet complete, Itachi understood him clearly, he too had a younger brother in Konoha, so he was used to hearing this sort of baby talk.

As Itachi looked at the innocent-looking boy in front of him, while his mind was clear about the mission he had set out for; his heart couldn't help but ache for him, for his mother, and for the miserable Hokage back in Konoha who wasn't aware that he had been a father for four years now.

Itachi immediately shook his head and gave little Naruto a small smile.

"No Naruto, I'm a friend, I'll help you treat your mommy," He grabbed the first aid kit that was strapped on his left hip and showed it to the boy, "See, I have medicine to stop your mommy from hurting. Can you take me to her?" Itachi kindly requested. To his horror though, little Naruto started bawling, and Itachi Uchiha panicked.

 _'The Fourth Hokage wouldn't punish me severely for making his son cry…right?'_ Itachi thought a tad nervously as he approached the boy in a placating manner.

"D-don't cry! I— _oof!_ " Itachi wasn't able to finish comforting the child before Naruto tackled him to the ground.

"Thank you so much, Tachi-nii!" Little Naruto exclaimed happily as he tightened his arms around the older boy.

Itachi's fraternal instincts kicked in and he instinctively hugged the boy back, if not a bit awkwardly, managing to soothe him just a bit. He prayed to the high heavens that this would keep the boy from crying.

This was a secret that Itachi wanted to take to his grave. He – Itachi Uchiha; pride of the Uchiha clan, was a sucker for crying children.

He was in the middle of rubbing the boy's back when he heard the tell-tale whistling of a kunai aimed straight towards his unguarded back.

Itachi disappeared so fast one could say he vanished into thin air. He scooped up the child into his arm, disregarding his yelp of shock, and leaped away from their previous position.

Itachi had already landed on top of a tree branch when the seal on the thrown kunai detonated, a large explosion demolishing where they had been standing not a second ago and covering the whole place with smoke. The ceramic mask had already been returned to its position on his face, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Naruto tightened his hold around Itachi's neck as he shook in panic. He seemed to be heavily affected by the killing intent that was being projected towards them. To the Uchiha it was negligible, however to a child who only had experienced it a few times, it was a terrifying experience.

"T-the bad guys! Tachi-niisan! It's them!" Naruto exclaimed in horror, eyes wide. Itachi quickly noted the information down, shifting his charge from his front to his back.

"Shh, don't worry…Nii-san won't let them hurt you," Itachi murmured as he tightened his hold on little Naruto, not once taking his eyes off the five Iwa shinobi who had ambushed them.

"Bring the kid to us, Konoha scum, then maybe we will kill you mercifu-" Itachi didn't let the monologuing Iwagakure shinobi finish his speech and swiftly dished out three tagged kunai in front of him, the glinting objects ricocheting off each other towards the offending group.

By the time the sound of a blast rang throughout the forest, Itachi and Naruto were long gone. Itachi hoped the combination of a stun, smoke, and explosive tag was enough to delay them for a bit.

"Naruto, where's your mother?" Itachi asked Naruto as he sprinted away from their pursuers with a few Shunshin – courtesy of his dear friend, Shisui.

"T-there! Inside the big cave!" Naruto answered despite his shaking voice and Itachi nodded, his eyes brightening to a deep crimson red, his Sharingan flitting around scanning the scenery.

Up ahead he caught sight of a subdued spot of foreign chakra, fluctuating agitatedly.

 _'She's injured just like Naruto said, if her chakra is anything to go by,'_ Itachi thought as he landed at the mouth of the cave.

Without pause, Itachi flitted inside, before stopping abruptly as he stared in wonderment at the sight in front of him. Any remaining strength he had left in his knees after three hours of what was glorified hide and seek drained away, and he subconsciously sunk into the seiza position from years of habit.

He would recognize that splash of red hair anywhere, for it belonged to the unconscious body of Kushina Uzumaki, the long-missing wife of the Fourth Hokage.

_***END OF CHAPTER TWO*** _

* * *

**DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS**

I only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, If you hate my story, please just stop reading it. This is my first Naruto fanfic, and I love Naruto. I don't want to leave the fandom because of many toxic fans so those who love it, enjoy reading.

_**SyrinxSilenus** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS
> 
> I only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, If you hate my story, please just stop reading it. This is my first Naruto fanfic, and I love Naruto, I don't want to leave the fandom because of many toxic fans so, those who love it, enjoy reading!


	4. Chapter 3: Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I decided to change the rating of this story because of graphic violence. Hahaha, I didn't even realize that I was going in that direction. By the way, someone told me that 4 yr olds can speak properly unless a child has a speech impediment. However, I made a four-yr old Naruto speak improperly. I honestly didn't know if that was right because I grew up with a brother who is 2 years younger than me, and he definitely had difficulty speaking even at the age of 8, so I really didn't have any basis. So I want to have your honest opinion, should I change what I did to Naruto in Chapter 2, or should I just continue? Comment your opinions

**IMPORTANT A/N: (July 27, 2020)** I'm so sorry for not updating for more than a month, I want to do a major clean up before posting the next chapters. When I first started writing this story, I really didn't know where I'm going after a couple of ideas I've written. More than a month of Hiatus finally gave me the exact direction of where this story is going. Everything is happening as planned, but a few chapters from the start didn't add up with where I wanted this story to go, so I have to do a few revisions here and there. Not much though, so the story still stayed the same. A few things had been changed though, such as the Elder council's position and a few things to clear up so it wouldn't clash with the next chapters of the story. From Prologue to chapter 4, a few things had been changed so don't be confused guys. Thank you so much to all the people that followed and favorited this story. Those who reviewed, I appreciate you all. Just want to say that I read all your reviews and answer all your questions as much as I can. I'm always online so don't hesitate to pm me if you have questions. For story updates, check my profile because I always post my story's progress and updates there.

Before going to the chapter, of course, I want to thank my awesome betas! Without them, this story would be a pile of junks.

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* * *

_**The Fourth Hokage's Son** _

_**Chapter Three** _

Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze had always been a lucky person. She had bragged about this a couple of times to her close friend, the Slug Princess back in the day, and even her fiancé, Minato Namikaze felt exasperated with her luck.

One time, Tsunade had brought her to the casino to gamble together.

After teasing and cackling at the legendary sucker each time she lost, which coincidentally was all the time, the blonde got so fed up with the Uzumaki that she challenged her to a game, and the loser had to do the bidding of the winner for a month straight. To the utter disbelief of the Slug Sannin, the redheaded woman won every single game without fail. Kushina didn't even know that Tsunade had rigged it in her own favor.

Since then, the temperamental blonde had the habit to drag the redhead with her every time she went to the casino to gamble. Of course, this quickly became boring for the hyperactive woman and so she decided to have fun teasing and ordering the Slug Sannin around before agreeing, much to the never-ending ire of her blond friend.

The mischievous redhead often got everything she wanted either by hook or by crook and with all the years she spent with good fortune on her sleeves, the redhead had never once thought that her luck would finally run out and leave her to tumble headfirst into the bottomless rabbit hole. She was so used to being lucky she had forgotten that she couldn't have her way every time and that misfortune would one day catch up.

So, when karma finally came to bite her in the ass, it had come with a vengeance.

It was sometime in early summer when she had pestered Minato, her newlywed husband, to send her on a simple solo-mission before she retired.

They were planning to have a child sometime soon this year, and she knew that she would be stuck at home for years until their future child was big enough to handle themselves when Kushina went on a mission or when Minato was out doing his duty.

Everything went well that day; the mission was a walk in the park for Kushina and she even had two pieces of cake for her and Minato to enjoy once she made it back to their warm cozy apartment. She never imagined that things would go so far out of control the moment she stepped out of the little town and began her long walk all the way back to Konoha.

All good shinobis were the ones that survived, and if they survived then they must be either lucky or exceptionally good at their job. Kushina was one that fit the latter category, she would say though, that the truth of the matter was that one could be lucky to an extent. Those who refused to die were those who were skilled enough to have such ambition.

The weather had been nice, a few clouds dotting the vast blue sky. The color reminded her of Minato's similar deep soulful eyes, the passing thought comforted her a bit. She looked down the well-worn path she had walked and noticed something was off.

_It was quiet._

Far too quiet to be considered normal; the birds weren't singing, the cicadas were not chirping, and nature itself seemed to have gone silent.

Suddenly, the sunshine did not feel so warm anymore.

It was a rather unexpected thing to happen to Kushina; it was out of the norm for her to be taken by surprise having this much forewarning.

One moment she was alone on the road, the next moment she wasn't. Five maroon clad Iwa Shinobi had risen from the ground as if they had been walking corpses and proceeded to block her way. The five each grabbed kunai from their own holster while moving into their preferred battle stance in front of the famed redhead.

Now if this had been a normal fight, these five would be nothing compared to the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. After all, Kushina was an S-Rank Kunoichi, one of the best. But as the fight started, fate was against her that day and the unexpected happened.

For a second, Kushina looked like she was winning, incapacitating two of her opponents in quick succession. Everything was going smoothly as always.

Alas, this was when her lucky star had chosen to abandon her. As she was busy fighting the remaining Iwa Shinobi, a cold feeling brushed her spine as if someone had trod upon a deceased one's grave.

it was a warning, a bright red flag raised by her battle instincts.

Looking back, maybe Kushina had become too cocky, knowing for certain she could defeat any enemy she was faced with. But when a _mist_ started surrounding her and she felt her body getting drowsy, she realized she had made a colossal mistake. She didn't even have the chance to grab Minato's special kunai when something pricked the back of her neck, and before she knew it, she lost consciousness.

Before she was completely devoured by darkness, she saw ten more Iwa-nin smirked down at her, and then she knew no more.

* * *

When Kushina opened her eyes again, she was bound by chains, wrapped tightly around her wrists as she kneeled on the cold ground. Her arms were suspended upwards with chains and in front of her stood the Kage of the Hidden Stone Village: The Tsuchikage, Onoki, one of Minato's sworn enemies.

"O-Onoki!" Kushina growled though the word came out quieter than intended as her throat was parched and her body felt abnormally weak. Drugs no doubt, used to dull and suppress her body's natural functions.

"Ah, you're finally awake Uzumaki." The old man eyed her with a disdainful expression with hands clasped behind his back as he stood there looking like he owned the world while two of his personal bodyguards stood by his side.

"What do you want with me?" She demanded, tugging at the chains on her wrists as she glared hatefully at the old man.

Onoki chuckled mirthlessly at her. "You know damn well what I want girl. I will have my revenge and the Kyuubi will fall into Iwa's hands."

If Kushina was surprised, she didn't show it, but inside her mind, any semblance of order was thrown into disarray. _'How did they find out that I'm the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox?'_

"Ahh, that face, you may be wondering how I found out about your status as a Jinchuriki?" The Tsuchikage's gruff voice resonated around the prison cell as he taunted the redhead, his face contorted with so much satisfaction that the Uzumaki woman felt the irresistible urge to kick him where the sun didn't shine just to wipe the smug expression off his face. Killing him could wait.

Kushina snarled at the old man, feeling the boiling anger in her chest bubbled and expanded as the Kyuubi's chakra started leaking out of her body. Brute force was her forte; these flimsy chains wouldn't hold her back for a second.

She was proven wrong in less than a second.

Onoki stared at her emotionlessly and flicked his finger once and the Shinobi standing beside him formed a tiger seal and whispered _'Fuin'_ in a flat voice.

The thick chains that kept her bound glowed with a familiar golden shine and she felt the Kyuubi's chakra recede as if stung, retreating back deep inside her body; her stomach dropped, eyes growing blank.

She would recognize those seals and comforting glow anywhere; why wouldn't she? It was one of her clan's masterpieces, created from the blood, sweat, and tears of more than one hundred Uzumaki seal masters.

_It did not belong here._

Kushina Uzumaki was not an angry person by nature. Sure, there was the occasional scene here and there where people rubbed her the wrong way, but that was inevitable in life. She needed to be able to control her anger in order to avoid unleashing a calamity upon whoever was unfortunate enough to irritate the hot-headed Uzumaki.

Kushina had only felt two types of anger in her life: One was a temporary, fleeting blast of anger; easily coming, easy-going. It wasn't unlike the kind when someone ate your last cup of ramen. The other was different. It was an insidious thing, dark and unforgiving. Under normal circumstances, Kushina would never let this off its ironclad leash, but she could clearly feel her control slipping by the second; a testament to how far gone she actually was.

Her thoughts sparked from one to another with the persistence of a bloodhound, the answer becoming clearer as each neuron fired with a rising fervor.

The seals would never fall into Iwa's hands unless…

Her face sobered. The Second Shinobi War then. Konoha never found out specifically who had massacred her homeland, but it was clear after an investigation was conducted in the area at least one major power had wiped out the remote island nation of Uzushio. Now she knew for a fact that one of those had been Iwa.

Her head throbbed.

She raised her eyes, devilish violet meeting tar black. " _You,"_ she whispered venomously, the single word carrying more hate than she could ever express in any amount of curses.

"Ahh, feisty as ever. Danzo really outdid himself this time."

Kushina's eyes widened. That old war hawk: a traitor? Her mind flitted back to numerous conversations she had with the seemingly decrepit old man. She had never talked with him much, had never liked him, but now the snide remarks and other offhanded comments he had aimed her way gained new meaning.

Hindsight was 20/20. Painfully so.

The fact that Danzo had been a traitor the entire time, and the possibility of there being more like him, pushed Kushina over the edge. And there was only one way in which she could let out all of her raw, aching fury.

Sadness and hurt were only a stone's throw away from similarly cripplingly dark emotions. Despair, anguish, all those manifested in a blood-red chakra, spilling voraciously from her body. The golden chains glowed brighter and brighter as it struggled to keep up with the sheer volume of hatred that bubbled with her chakra, threatening to breach the shining links.

She screamed.

* * *

In the following weeks, Kushina was subjected to brutal, nonstop torture. The two Iwa Shinobi assigned to interrogate her were ruthless, asking for invaluable information on her husband and Konoha. They took shifts, and never let her rest for a second, but Kushina never once opened her mouth other than to shriek and curse colorfully.

_'I am Kushina fucking Uzumaki-Namikaze!'_

The redhead would yell this inside her head every time she felt herself falter. It would without fail to reignite her resolve, no matter how far gone she was. She would never go down without a fight or her name wasn't Uzumaki and fight she would.

For a whole month, she was tortured and was barely fed, her body was as weak as a butterfly. The desire to ask for death grew exponentially with every waking minute.

She always thought of Minato as her anchor, her stronghold in the storm, no matter how bad the situation got…her husband who was undoubtedly going insane with worry now. He was the only reason why she was fighting to stay alive. Because one way or another, she would escape this hellhole.

She would come back to Konoha, and when she did, she would make them all pay. Minato would show no mercy on them. She swore on her life that she would not die here.

She would fight for her husband, no matter how much pain she'd have to endure, she would fight to survive. For him.

When they married each other, she vowed that her life would be his to own, and his hers; she didn't have the right to give up hope until she saw her husband again.

 _'I refuse to die!'_ She yelled in her mind as she panted harshly.

Sweat rolled down her skin as blood oozed from her wounds, but she looked up and stared straight towards her captor and _spat_ at him. She had good aim, proved once again as her spit landed on his face. _Bullseye_.

Kushina grinned triumphantly. She had done her utmost in the last month to make these two interrogators' life the absolute worst, passively and actively. Soon, being appointed as her guard had become one of the most disliked positions out there. She would be damned if she let them nap while on duty

_'Serves them right.'_

The man screeched in disgust, aggressively punching her face once, twice, yet, her feline grin, never left her features. It didn't matter how many injuries were inflicted upon her; she was the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. A Jinchuriki. They never stayed down for long. Even fatal injuries were not out of the question for such a being's healing abilities. She was a tad thankful to the damn fox during her stay in this hellhole, even though it was the thing that made her a target in the first place.

The Iwa Shinobi who was assigned to torture her was dragged out from her prison cell screaming and kicking her as he threatened to kill her. Kushina cackled humorlessly as she watched the man glared at her with blood-shot eyes, murder in his expression and in his words.

They clearly had forgotten who they were dealing with here. She wasn't dubbed as the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero for nothing.

Those jerks thought that they could just punch and kick her without retaliation? If they thought that she would just make it easy for them to torture her, then they were out of their damn minds. She was the wife of the Yellow Flash, the last descendant to the Uzumaki clan and an S-Ranked shinobi; she wasn't just any woman they could trample over.

They dragged her back forcefully and threw her back into the cramped cell, the multiple locks click-clacking shut one by one. The redhead curled up on the floor and couldn't help but smile sadly as she thought of her Minato.

 _'Minato…_ ' She missed him so damn much. She missed his kisses, his hugs, his touch. His sunny smile and his sheepish look whenever he would come up with another stupid Jutsu with stupid names.

_'Minato… save me, save me please!'_

Tears started flowing down her cheeks as the dam broke. She felt her chest twist in agony and longing. It was when she was given a moment to herself that Kushina allowed herself to feel–to feel alone, and cold, and nearly broken.

_'Minato…'_

* * *

The next time she opened her eyes, she wasn't alone in her cell. Her injuries had not completely healed yet, but she could tell that someone was with her.

"-Shina-!" The person was calling her…who could it be? She pondered this as her mind shook off the numbing blanket called sleep. The only times she could rest were the times when she slept, and she cherished those short hours unburdened with the agony the next day was sure to bring.

She blinked her blurry eyes open a couple of times until she finally adjusted her sight. The first thing she registered was the color—

 _'Red?'_ The person was kneeling in front of her.

"Agh... " She tried to speak but her throat felt so raw. That's right…the night before she had gone through yet another "session" before being returned to her cell. It seemed that the longer the time as a prisoner, the more the pain and memories blurred together, time was only an illusion at this point.

"Kushina-neesama!"

Her eyes suddenly snapped open, mournful violet eyes staring back at her. The distinct red hair of the Uzumaki clan stood out from the depressing color of her dark cell, framing a very familiar face that she thought she lost many years ago.

Kushina stared with wide unblinking eyes as she realized that she was gazing at the bruised face of her long-lost sister.

"Kao...ru-chan?" her worn voice rasped hopefully as she stared longingly at the miniature replica of her mother.

"Kushina-neesama!" Kaoru, the youngest sister of Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze cried out as tears rolled down her cheeks.

 _'Kaoru has always been like mother, from her looks to her personality.'_ the older woman absentmindedly thought as she basked in the comforting feeling of her sister's presence. She closed her eyes as she felt a hot forehead bumped into her own, and warmth suddenly surrounded her whole being.

"Kaoru-chan..." the older Uzumaki whispered under her breath, voice laced with affection as the chained redhead was assaulted with nostalgic memories she shared with her sister as a child.

How was it possible that she, Kushina Uzumaki, was the troublemaking daughter around the island and Kaoru Uzumaki, the youngest daughter of the Uzumaki clan head were the complete opposite of each other, from birth even.

While Kushina inherited her father's boisterous personality, Kaoru was almost exactly like the Uzumaki matriarch's clone; from her physical appearance to her calm and polite personality and her logical thinking, the youngest Uzumaki sister was unmistakably the echo of their late mother.

Kaoru was dubbed as the Genius Daughter while Kushina became famous as the Prankster Queen. Though the eldest Uzumaki sister may have been known as the troublesome daughter, she wasn't stupid. Far from it, actually.

Despite her reputation, Kushina became one of the most talented sealing masters of her generation, one that could only be seen once every several decades that even her younger sister– _known to be a genius_ –admired. The eldest sister's sealing skills were something to behold, and Kaoru knew that well.

Her fuinjutsu application and technique were peculiar as per her personality, in contrast to Kaoru's straight-laced, direct methodology of sealing, Kushina's way was eclectic, to say the least. She drew seals with unique patterns that barely, if not at all, followed the basic guidelines and principles of fuinjutsu from the Uzumaki library. Other Uzumaki had tried time and time again to figure out the values and rules behind her seals, to no avail. It had amused Kushina greatly at the time.

Kushina was always a different kind of smart, even when compared to her genius husband, she was led by instinct rather than logic, Kaoru being closer to Minato in that regard.

The two Uzumaki siblings would have been taken for twins had the length of their hair and their personalities not served as a way to tell them apart. Kushina tended to grow her hair way past her hips while Kaoru maintained her shoulder-length hair. Kaoru had learned her lesson to always put a distinction between their physical appearance since more than once her older sibling had _accidentally_ involved her in her numerous exploits because they looked the same, so she wanted to avoid too much trouble when it came their way. However, because of Kaoru's imprisonment, her hair had grown more than she had ever before.

The sisters may have had contrasting personalities, but they were of the closest siblings one would come across; they were inseparable despite their clashing personalities.

They would never forget this reunion.

They both teared up and began weeping from the overwhelming happiness and relief that surged from their hearts. For Kushina it had been a whole month without anybody to talk to, much less interact with and that was more than enough reason for the walls she had built to crumble and shatter

Kushina's wrists blazed in pain as she strained against the cursed chains which hugged her bloodied flesh. Next to her, her sister's hands were bound by a metal chain with similar engravement. So no matter how much they desired to cling with one another, they could not. They came to a silent compromise and buried their faces on the crook of each other's neck, letting their tears flow freely. Neither of them moved for hours that followed as nightfall gradually shrouded the world in darkness.

After the tears had long run dry, Kushina stared at her sister again. The sister that she never thought she would see again.

 _'She looks so thin,'_ she noted worriedly.

Wiping her tears off with her arm to regain at least a scrap of dignity which earned a short bark of laughter from Kushina, Kaoru finally started telling her sister. It turns out that the younger Uzumaki had been captured years ago, back when the Uzushiogakure was attacked and decimated by Kumo and Iwa.

The whole time the younger Uzumaki was talking, Kushina was filled with growing horror and disbelief. She only gave a small, melancholic smile when she was told that the Uzumaki did not go down quietly; every single one of them that had been taken down, the Uzumaki had taken ten enemies from the land of the living.

Kushina could not believe that her sister had been here all along, the whole time she thought that every one of her family had died; when in truth, her sister was here, inside a cold cell in Iwagakure, getting tortured for information. Her sister was truly strong if she had really stayed sane through all of her torment, and inside these damp cells for so many years.

 _'That's why she looks so fragile.'_ Kushina thought in pain as her heart ached at her sister's suffering. If only she had known, she would have busted her out of here in an instant.

Kaoru didn't know if there were others, but she had been alone for so many years that seeing her elder sister gave her a feeling of pure euphoria and happiness she had been convinced she would never experience again.

The younger woman told her sister everything that had happened when she was captured and the other redhead couldn't help but shook in restrained fury as she found out that the reason Iwa was keeping her sister prisoner was the need for Uzumaki blood to activate the seals stolen from Uzushio. This entire time they had been using her sister's blood to experiment with their clan's prized possessions.

 _'Those bastards!'_ Kushina's rage went up a notch after she heard about the things that her sister had been forced to do, and all she wished was for her husband to bring this place to its knees. Or even better, she could just do it herself instead. Once she got out of this cell, she would teach them the meaning of armageddon, and she could not wait.

' _They will know the true meaning of an Uzumaki's wrath.'_

* * *

Kushina felt ill. She didn't know why she suddenly couldn't stomach the smell of any food they fed her. She threw up every morning and she was craving ramen more than she ever had. Her arms were no longer suspended in the air, ' _a privilege'_ they claimed to her disgust, but the damned links remained locked tightly around her wrists.

Her sister Kaoru was getting worried. "Nee-sama… I think something is wrong with you." the younger woman said softly as she rubbed her sister's back, who was currently throwing up the contents of her stomach.

Kushina's answer was another heave as the acidic taste of her vomit caused her stomach to turn. Nausea clawed at her throat, and she tried to force down the bile by attempting to cover her mouth with a shaking hand, but it was too late.

Chunks of partially digested scraps spewed out of her mouth, choking and coughing, her stomach's contents went straight into the rusted bucket that the Iwa guards threw inside their cell earlier this morning.

Her stomach kept on contracting violently and forcing everything up and out. Her face was white and clammy, as sweat and tears rolled down her pale skin.

She lurched forward and sunk down to the cold floor of their cell; her body too fatigued to keep her upright anymore. The pungent stench invaded her nostrils and she heaved again, even though there was nothing left to throw up. Her throat hurt from all the vomiting she'd been doing since the day before, and her head was killing her. Kushina wondered if this was another atrocious method of torture those Iwa ninjas had for her.

Her eyes were getting blurry again. Slowly, darkness spread all over her, and the next second, unconsciousness gently took her from reality. It felt like both a second and eternity had passed when she came to and someone appeared to be tending to her; however, her mind was still murky and unclear from the sleep she'd had.

Kushina felt something prick her, and the haziness vanished in an instant, but to her surprise when she darted her eyes upward, she saw a woman in white garments passing the needle to a similarly dressed man. Doctors or something similar, she recognized idly.

"So, what's wrong with her?" She heard the irate voice of the Tsuchikage.

' _That damn Onoki, so they didn't want me dead yet,'_ The redhead bitterly thought, knowing full well that they needed her alive to steal the Kyuubi from her, but the question is, how the hell were they going to accomplish this?

She was here for almost two months already and they did nothing but torture her for information which they have not gotten yet. There could not be anything that she could give–

"She's three months pregnant."

Kushina's world began spinning when she heard what the medic had said.

 _'Pregnant...pregnant...three months pregnant...'_ was all Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze, the wife of the Yellow Flash, could think about before her mind drifted back into unconsciousness, her last thoughts both tinged with elation and soul-crushing despair.

* * *

Onoki grinned maliciously when he heard the news, and laughed. "Finally, what a stroke of luck! We will have a new Jinchuriki in six months!" Onoki laughed again as Kaoru muffled her sobs by biting her lips as tears fell down her cheeks relentlessly.

 _'Oh, Kushina,'_ Kaoru prayed for the high heavens to help her sister and to save her. Even her dying would be fine if it would save her sister and her unborn child. _'Why? Why did these things happen to us?'_ Kaoru wept. She wept for the unfairness of this situation, she wept for her agony, and she wept for her sister's sufferings.

"Feed her properly for the following six months, make sure that she will give birth to that Uzumaki child without complication. After she has given birth, we will start the transferring of the Bijuu." ordered the Tsuchikage, all the other present ninjas scrambling to carry out his orders.

"Understood, Tsuchikage-sama!" one of his guards answered as he bowed.

Kaoru squeezed her tired eyes shut and her tears refused to stop.

The last thing that Kaoru heard before she cried herself to sleep was the footsteps of the Tsuchikage disappearing into the darkness.

_***END OF CHAPTER THREE*** _

* * *

**DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS**

I only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, If you hate my story, please just stop reading it. This is my first Naruto fanfic, and I love Naruto. I don't want to leave the fandom because of many toxic fans so those who love it, enjoy reading.

_**SyrinxSilenus** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So so sorry for the late update. Things happened and I don't have an excuse. I can't promise the next chapter to come faster than this. My family is going to move to the province on Monday and sadly, there's no internet connection there so I can't promise an update soon. I hope this is enough to compensate.


	5. Chapter 4: Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before going to the chapter, of course, I want to thank my awesome betas! Without them, this story would be a pile of junks.
> 
> o0CrimsonsDragon0o
> 
> Kuroi raion
> 
> NeatStuff
> 
> Nedoko-maki
> 
> hakon2feb
> 
> 13talos
> 
> Vynush
> 
> ProngIsABadger
> 
> Go18

_**The Fourth Hokage's Son** _

_**Chapter Four** _

Five months had passed since Kushina had found out she was pregnant.

Surprisingly enough, the medics and attendants were compliant with all of her demands when it came to matters of food and drink. Even her coveted tonkatsu ramen wasn't out of the question, though it always arrived on the hot side of lukewarm.

It was after a month that she decided she would not resent the people that were oblivious to her plight. Those who only knew she was pregnant were just that, bystanders on the wrong side of the fence. In any case, her status earned her more than enough glances of pity from the female staff and a few smuggled treats that she enjoyed reluctantly with her sister.

She was also given a much better place to sleep, the floor no longer reminiscent of moss and stone, a change she was more than happy welcoming. Moreover, her captors had allowed her a futon, a pillow, and a blanket. Truly, luxury, she thought with more than a bit of scathing sarcasm.

To her dismay, the burdensome chains stayed firmly attached to both of her wrists, a constant reminder of her captivity. But those chains had only served to cause Kushina to redouble her efforts to devise a way to escape the prison she had been placed in.

During those five months, Kushina and Kaoru had thought of numerous ways to escape. However, their main problem was the chains wrapped around both sisters' wrists.

Simply put, Iwa had got them good. Real good.

When Kushina had been abducted, the drugs that sedated her rendered her chakra control utterly useless. She was shortly after cuffed, denying any possibility of escape within the short timeframe.

Of course, once she had come to, she quickly realized that the cuffs had been of Uzumaki make and effortlessly broke down the core principles and values of the seals engraved on the ornate metal links. She became greatly disheartened once she realized that a considerable amount of chakra would be required for a keyed seal that would release her restraints; the cuffs themselves had been intended to suppress chakra almost completely regardless of it being a tailed beast's perfectly suppressing both of a jinchuriki's chakra sources, themselves and their little tenant.

Kushina could have removed it on her own had she possessed enough chakra to use her blood as a medium to deactivate the seals, but the infant in her stomach was constantly draining her reserves. Pure-blooded seals were notoriously hard to create and required even more chakra than an average inked seal to function.

To make matters worse, she still needed to free her sister from her own chains entirely as well if they were to make an escape, She would not be leaving her sister behind, and even if she had to, Kushina would not be able to make it very far on her own with her strength slowly abandoning her.

She couldn't simply snap the chains on her own, no matter how much she struggled against the interlocked links. If only she could regain a fraction of her former strength, she and her sister might be able to escape this.

Aside from that problem, Kushina was worried.

She was pregnant.

Pregnant with Minato's child while being held captive in the dungeon in Iwagakure. She couldn't imagine what these people would do to her poor baby just to have their, meaningless revenge on her husband.

No.

She couldn't let them touch her baby. She needed to do something. She wanted to scream. She wanted to destroy this place by rampaging, but it was useless. The fact remained:

Kushina couldn't do _anything_ at the moment.

She was powerless. She despised it with a burning hatred. She hated feeling so powerless, _useless_. A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips, her emotions welling up and tears were gently flowing down her face.

"Minato…please find us…"

The prayer went unheard that night.

* * *

The Third Tsuchikage sat on his stone seat, fingers pressed together and staring thoughtfully over his village. It was after a short period of silence following another batch of dreaded paperwork that he addressed his quiet secretary.

"How old does the child need to be for us to be able to start his training with the Kyuubi's chakra?"

"Four years old is enough, Tsuchikage-sama."

A smirk bloomed on Onoki's face as he thought of the many ways he could exact revenge on the Yellow Flash.

"To have your village destroyed at the hands of your own child. How fitting, Minato."

The hidden shinobi guards inside the Tsuchikage's office gave their own sinister grin at the thought of the Yellow Flash's face when he realized the truth.

* * *

A blank-masked shinobi sped through numerous zigzagging tunnels, turning left and right so many times it would look almost random to an outsider. Finally, the shinobi stopped suddenly, in the middle of an enormous dome and in front of a jagged, cold throne. And on that throne, sat an equally cold person.

"Danzo-sama. It is confirmed that the Fourth's wife is carrying a child."

The man who was sitting so still that he could be mistaken for a statue opened his single visible eye as a smirk ghosted over his wrinkled lips at the news that was just delivered.

"After Onoki kills the Fourth, we will take over Konoha and transform his son into Konoha's strongest weapon," the bandaged man murmured, a hand idly rubbing the wooden cane he carried everywhere.

_'Soon, Konoha will be mine.'_

"Keep an eye on the child, especially after Onoki successfully transfers the Kyuubi into its new vessel. We will snatch him at the right time."

"As you command Danzo-sama."

Danzo flicked his hand once and the nondescript ANBU vanished, leaving him to his numerous insidious plots.

"Your reign will not last long Minato."

With a malicious glint in his eyes, Danzo stood up and trudged with his cane in hand towards the darkest part of his lair.

* * *

The date of birth to her child came too fast for Kushina's liking.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see her baby, she was just afraid of what the Tsuchikage would do to her as soon as she brought her child to the world. And even then, she was more concerned about her child's safety than her own.

So as Kushina pushed and screamed her lungs out, yanking the chain at her wrists so hard that they were soaked with blood; she couldn't help but let the tears roll down her cheeks, born from the agony of childbirth.

Her sister's hands were laid flat on her stomach as the younger redhead tried her best to repress the Kyuubi inside Kushina's seal. Sweat poured down the side of her face as she grimaced with concentration, struggling to not focus on her sister's wails and screams of distress.

"Kushina-neesama, hang in there!" Kaoru encouraged; voice strained, as she darted her eyes from the seal to her sister's agonized face.

"It hurts! It hurts, dattebane! Kaoru-chaaaan!" Kushina let out a low moan as another wave of pain engulfed her being. She felt like she was a boat in a far too big of a sea, getting torn up from all sides and pulled apart in the relentless storm.

Kaoru bit her lip hard as the Kyuubi thrashed inside Kushina, sensing that his freedom was close, if not just out of reach.

A Jinchuriki's seal weakens during childbirth; this was a jealously guarded secret only known to a few people in the Shinobi Nation. Thankfully, the Tsuchikage knew that much, and so Kaoru had been unbounded to help with repressing the Kyuubi inside Kushina.

The Tsuchikage couldn't afford the strongest Bijuu to let loose in his village. Unfortunately, that fact alone wasn't enough to stop his greed of gaining the power of the said Bijuu.

Kushina, on the other hand, had more pressing matters than the Kyuubi to worry about. The redhead was in a world of pain as the screams she uttered stretched her vocal cords more than they had since arriving in this hellhole.

When labor began, the pain was more intense than anything Kushina had ever imagined. Nothing could be more brutal, not whips or chains, not even the nonstop torture she had endured at the hands of those ruthless Iwa Shinobi.

It was so overwhelming that the Iwa Shinobi, her sister, and the medic-nin had melted into the background as if they weren't even there. The redhead huffed and let out another long cry and pushed with all her might, her throat raw and overused from all the cries she had been making. Was it going to end anytime soon? Was there anything more isolating than this intense pain?

This agony she was feeling was so intense that it had locked her in as effectively as any prison, and yet nothing would be worth it except for her unending love for her unborn child.

All of a sudden, the world came abruptly back into focus. Lights far too bright for her liking and voices muffled by a high-pitched ringing noise. Kushina felt sore all over, but she knew that if she had come to her senses then that meant only one thing.

Her baby was finally born.

The medic-nin cleaned up the baby and wrapped him in a white cloth as she laid the infant beside his exhausted mother. Kushina blinked her blurry eyes as she stared at the baby beside her, the agony she had experienced like no other soon forgotten as the new mother gazed in wonder at the bawling baby.

It was as if only sunshine existed in the world and the Earth had been ushered into a serene tranquillity, with just her and the baby. As the baby opened his eyes, the mother was greeted by a pair of familiar cerulean eyes watching innocently into her own, perfect and reaching out for her love. Kushina was overwhelmed. In that instant, she knew she would do anything to protect her child, that her love was as vast as the ocean and as solid as mountains. She was now a mother and would always be by his side in every phase of his life.

The cry of the newborn infant resonated throughout the prison cell as he screamed with the might of an Uzumaki.

Kushina rubbed her tearful eyes to look at him, her son.

"Kushina-neesama…" Kaoru whispered in awe as she borrowed the infant from his mother and stared at him with affectionate eyes.

"He's beautiful," she softly whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

While the incomplete family basked in short-lived happiness, the medics proceeded to tend to Kushina and the two redheads let them work as they focused on the little bundle of joy who was still unnamed.

"So, what are you going to name him?" Kaoru asked her sister as she handed the baby back to the tired mother.

Kushina looked at her newly born son and nuzzled him softly with her cheeks. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she wrapped her baby tenderly in her trembling arms. She vaguely remembered a conversation she once had with Minato and Jiraiya in Ichiraku's ramen stand.

_"I like the name Sensei. If Kushina and I have a son, I'll name him Naruto." Minato grinned widely after reading the name of the protagonist in his Sensei's first published book._

_"Eh! But I just came up with that name while eating ramen!" Jiraiya exclaimed in shock._

_"Naruto, I like it," Kushina said. Smiling wide at the shocked Sannin. The name lingered in her memory for the next following week._

Kushina couldn't help but smile fondly at the memory as tears rolled down her cheeks. She had finally decided.

"Naruto. His name is Naruto."

And thus Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was born.

* * *

The Tsuchikage didn't waste any time. As soon as the news reached him that the child was successfully delivered, he immediately went down to the prison cell to start the transfer.

_'Soon, I'll have a new Jinchuriki, one that I could mold as Iwa's most powerful weapon.'_

* * *

Kushina's face radiated with so much happiness it seemed to fill the room as she smiled affectionately at her son. _Minato's son._

She was now embracing her new-born baby as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. She and Minato had a son now.

_'Oh Minato, if only you could see him now. He looks just like you.'_

"He has your face Nee-sama," Kaoru said as she smiled tenderly at the mother and son.

"Oh Ru-chan, if you saw his father, I doubt you'd say that. He's his father's carbon copy."

The two sisters giggled as baby Naruto suckled quietly on his mother. Cerulean eyes that were identical to his father was for now hidden behind closed eyelids.

Kushina kissed his head lovingly.

The moment was ruined; however, when they heard heavy footsteps advancing towards their cell room.

Kushina and Kaoru stared at each other with dawning horror.

Kushina immediately hid baby Naruto underneath her blanket, although it was an entirely futile attempt to hide him from the Tsuchikage.

The new mother could feel the erratic beating of her heart as fear slowly swallowed her whole. Kaoru tried her best to shield her sister and baby Naruto from the uninvited guests as she glared with all the hate she could muster at the opening cell in front of her.

There was a clicking of metal as the guards unlocked their secluded cell and let the Tsuchikage and his guards in.

Onoki raised an eyebrow at the two women, their pathetic attempt at intimidation not impressing him in the slightest.

"Grab the infant."

His old voice grated as two of his Shinobi moved according to his command. One shoved Kaoru away roughly and re-tied her binding as she tried to struggle against her captor.

"You goddamn bastard, once I get out of here-!"

Onoki mockingly laughed at the struggling woman and stared into the furious eyes of Kushina Uzumaki.

"Scary eyes. Too bad you can't do anything, my dear Kushina. Just relax and watch as we transfer the Kyuubi into your newly born son."

"Don't you fucking dare!"

There was a deafening crack as Akatsuchi, one of the most loyal guards of the Tsuchikage, slapped her. Kushina spit out blood as she fought with all her might for her son as Akatsuchi tried prying her from baby Naruto.

In the end, a kick to the stomach caused Kushina to let go of her son. She doubled over and vomited, her body shaking with adrenaline. Her body was still very weak from giving birth and past tortures; it was a miracle she hadn't passed out yet considering her condition.

"You stay right there and be a silent dog," Onoki rasped as he signaled for his shinobi to start the transfer.

Kushina trashed and thrashed, trying to fight the two Iwa-nin who was holding her, but when she felt a prick on her arm, she couldn't do anything but glare as wave after wave of hatred poured out of her, greatly surpassing the anger she had felt when she knew of her sister's kidnapping.

And yet, she could do nothing towards the smirking Tsuchikage as her vision slowly clouded and exhaustion took over her body.

"N-no…Naruto…My baby…" Her words came out no more than whispers, darkness quickly narrowing her vision.

Another needle pierced the skin on her arm and Kushina lost consciousness.

* * *

_**Four Years Later** _

Kushina blinked her blurry eyes open as she felt someone hugging her. Her eyes roamed around her until it landed on the sleeping boy beside her.

It was her son, Naruto.

Kushina couldn't help the pained expression to appear on her face whenever she saw a glimpse of her son. Her innocent son.

"Oh, Naruto."

Kushina silently wept as she hugged her sleeping boy.

Four years ago, after she gave birth, the Kyuubi was forcefully extracted from her and was transferred into her newly born son.

Kushina wasn't awake when the extraction started, the bastard Tsuchikage had drugged her to hell and back to prevent her from struggling.

The next time Kushina opened her eyes, it was to the sorrowful face of her sister who explained to her what happened.

She almost died back then.

She had just given birth and the sudden extraction of the Kyuubi from her frail body didn't help her case at all.

The fact that the Tsuchikage couldn't care less whether she died or not made matters worse; since she had already served her purpose, Onoki didn't need her anymore. It was only because of her sister's miraculous interference did Kushina even manage to survive.

Kaoru had inherited one of the special bloodline abilities of the Uzumaki clan; the healing chakra that could be transferred through biting.

Kushina was so out of it, but as it turned out, her sister managed to wake her up long enough despite the drug in her system for her to bite onto her sister's arm to help her survive.

She did survive, if only barely. Due to how weak she was though, she needed her sister's healing chakra to maintain her health.

Thankfully, Onoki returned baby Naruto to Kushina after the extraction so she still managed to breastfeed him.

The only reason why she was being kept alive was because of her role in ensuring Naruto's survival until Onoki deemed Naruto ready for his Jinchuriki training.

They were planning to turn Naruto into their village's most powerful weapon, and according to what Kushina had heard, they would only wait four years before they began their plans.

Three days from now, Naruto would turn four. Before that, they sorely needed to escape. Kushina was trying her best to recuperate and secretly storing her chakra bit by bit into a tiny seal that she had drawn on her leg using her own blood.

This seal she had devised let out little to no chakra at all and was very hard to detect, perfect for something like an infiltration, or in this case, exfiltration.

She and Kaoru had been quietly discussing their escape plan since Naruto was born, and the time to execute it was today.

Kushina locked eyes with Kaoru and nodded.

Kaoru smiled and took a deep breath before opening her mouth. Out came a delicate, melodic song, so soft and natural you wouldn't even hear it unless you were told that it was there. The notes drifted in and out of the cell and the cell's surroundings, and before long the two guards stationed outside of the cell were caught under its influence, lulled to sleep by the almost siren-esque song.

The younger redhead carefully removed the keys from a holster in one of the guard's clothes and started leafing through numerous odd keys on the keychain.

The two idiots had been drinking and playing cards when Kaoru used a very special technique that she had devised all by herself.

Thankfully, in order to activate this technique, she only needed to draw a seal used to perform a powerful genjutsu. To do that though, she needed to deactivate the pitiful seal in her wrist using her blood. There was a secret way to deactivate a seal created by the Uzumaki clan: the blood of a pure Uzumaki.

Of course, Onoki didn't know about this. The Tsuchikage had completely forgotten about her, deeming her worthless and weak, and disregarded the possibility of her escaping, too focused on her sister's situation and greed.

He didn't know that Kaoru wasn't named a Seal Master for nothing. Her personal invented technique derived from her own hobby of singing could be used as a deadly weapon.

 _The Serene Voice of Seduction_ , she calls it, though Kushina had never stopped teasing her about the name to this day. It is a genjutsu fixed in using a blood seal that has been meticulously interlaced with songs that she projected using chakra and her voice.

It has the power to seduce or make a person drowsy and lose consciousness. It was quite the chakra-heavy technique so Kaoru could only use it once a day so they needed to move fast.

For the past years that she was held captive, she had lost her will to live. She had never bothered trying to escape, too sick to live another day. But she lived, the heavens took pity on her, and she met her sister again who she had thought had been dead for years. Now, finally, after four years of watching her sister suffer and this day had finally come.

She now had her sister and a nephew to live for. She couldn't afford to be weak-minded. With her loved ones in mind, Kaoru gained her strength to fight again and successfully deactivated the seal on her wrist with the ease of an Uzumaki Seal Master.

It took her a while to gain her strength after sustaining Kushina's life for a year and a half. Once she was sure that Kushina was capable of sustaining her own life, she started recuperating herself. When she regained enough strength, she drew a small blood seal on her inner thigh and used it to store chakra little by little.

She had successfully deactivated the seal after storing enough chakra and was not trying to set themselves free.

Kushina activated the hidden seal on her right leg and flicked her wrists once. Using fresh blood that was coated on her wrist, Kushina quickly and efficiently deactivated the seals on the chain that bound her.

That idiot Onoki was getting cocky. Leaving only two guards on them? What, did he think that he had completely broken their will four years ago?

Kushina summoned her Uzumaki chains to destroy the now useless cuffs on her wrists. She gently wrapped a cloth around her wounds as she looked at her sister's work.

There was a faint 'click' as Kaoru successfully unlocked the door.

Kushina carefully gathered her sleeping son in her arms as Kaoru slowly pushed the cell doors until there was enough opening for them to escape. It was a good thing that their cell was located at the deepest part of the dungeon. The guards were only situated at the entrance of the small hallway and in front of their cell. Apparently, this cell was supposed to be a secret cell. But this cell had walls, walls that could be easily destroyed with some quick seal work.

The two women made haste around the sleeping guards and silently into the depths of the prison.

Kaoru had told her that their prison was located underground; near the small and only forest of Iwagakure. It looked a lot more like a patch of green moss amidst the gigantic mountains of rocks. And so they decided that the safest way to escape was not towards the same exit and entrance that the Iwa-nin used to go to their cell, but to create a backdoor of sorts and escape from there. Thankfully, they were the only prisoners located underground. She suspected that the Tsuchikage purposely isolated them from the rest of the prisoners. They took it as an advantage.

Kaoru carefully slit her arm and drew an intricate seal using her blood on the wall while Kushina activated it using her chakra.

The wall came apart in a sea of dust, reaching their feet in small waves of what looked like a small tsunami that covered their feet, the light from the moon lighting up a bit the rows of dark, empty cells behind them. The sun hadn't risen yet and dawn was probably a few hours from now. A perfect hour to make an escape.

The two women didn't waste a second and immediately sprinted towards the small forest. Behind them, an alarm flared up loudly, alerting the whole area of their escape.

Both women were still quite weak no matter how hard they had been trying to build up their strength throughout the years in captivity. The unhealthy food and on occasion the lack of thereof had made the task unnecessarily difficult, but they kicked their legs as they pushed their strength-sapped bodies to run.

Soon, they were out of the small forest and were now surrounded by extensive mountains of rocks. Definitely, the village hidden by rocks.

Not too long after, they heard the fast-approaching footsteps from behind them. Kushina narrowed her eyes as she passed the sleeping Naruto to her sister and, barely skipping a beat; halted and drew another seal on the ground. With a swift formation of a hand seal with her experienced fingers, the seal was immediately activated.

Kushina left a Shadow Clone to draw more seals and cause havoc and confusion as the two women carried on running. She would soon run out of the chakra that she had stored up for so long in her legs; they didn't have much time left, and there was only so much they could buy for themselves. They needed to get out of there – fast.

Kushina unconsciously tightened her fist as worry coursed through her system.

_'Just let us get to Konoha, please Kami-sama.'_

In truth, Kushina didn't know if her body would be able to handle sprinting all the way to Konoha from Iwa. Both she and her sister were too drained, especially Kaoru since she was absorbing her sister's chakra to survive, and so Kaoru couldn't store as much chakra as Kushina did.

Kushina bit her lower lip as she worriedly glanced at her sister who looked exhausted but just as determined. They nodded at each other as if knowing what the other was thinking and continued rushing for their lives.

Naruto, back in her mother's embrace, stirred awake.

"Mommy?"

Kushina looked down on her son and saw him rubbing away the sleep in his eyes.

"Shh, Naruto. Stay still, horrible guys are chasing us – we need to get out of here."

Suddenly wide awake, Naruto tightened his hold around his mother's neck as he looked in fear at the explosions erupting from the direction where they had come from.

Naruto didn't understand much of their situation, but he knew that the people in that place were not friendly. He knew that they had hurt his mother and auntie, but for what reason, he still didn't know.

He vaguely remembered meeting a short old man who liked to examine him from time to time. He didn't like him much. That old man was using his mother to threaten Naruto to follow through with the man's desires.

Naruto still didn't know what he wanted from him. All he knew was that he was supposed to meet that old man three days from now. Though it looked like he didn't need to worry about it anymore.

There was an explosion behind them, and the blast was powerful enough to hurl the two women to the ground. Kushina cushioned Naruto's fall and ignored the stinging wounds on her skin that scraped on the ground.

The sisters jumped back up and glared at the three Iwa shinobi now surrounding them, with more of them on the way, no doubt.

"You think you can run away from us?" the Iwa shinobi in the middle taunted with a sneer, grinning maliciously as they drew their kunai to stab and maul…

_***END OF CHAPTER FOUR*** _

* * *

**DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS**

I only accept CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, If you hate my story, please just stop reading it. This is my first Naruto fanfic, and I love Naruto. I don't want to leave the fandom because of many toxic fans so those who love it, enjoy reading!

**_SyrinxSilenus_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So so sorry for the late update. Things happened and I don't have an excuse. I can't promise the next chapter to come faster than this. My family is going to move to the province on Monday and sadly, there's no internet connection there so I can't promise an update soon. I hope this is enough to compensate.


	6. Chapter 5: Kurama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special Mention to my awesome betas:
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> o0CrimsonsDragon0o
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> Kuroi raion
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> NeatStuff
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> Nedoko-maki
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> Go18

_**The Fourth Hokage's Son** _

_**Chapter Five** _

Kushina drew a ragged breath as they dove to avoid the unforgiving projectiles sent in their direction.

She didn't need to say anything to know that their situation had gotten considerably worse in the last few minutes; they'd expected to be long gone by the time their captors had realized anything was amiss.

 _'This is not good,'_ Kushina thought bitterly as she and Kaoru jumped from opposite directions to dodge the barrage of kunai thrown their way.

Their bodies were far weaker than they'd ever been, but they were Whirlpool Ninjas at heart, and Whirlpool Ninjas driven into a corner were truly a force to be reckoned with. The Second Great Ninja War was a good indicator of that.

Kushina discreetly slid Naruto into the bushes and pressed a finger to her lips, maintaining eye-contact with the frightened boy as Kaoru handily distracted the three Iwa Shinobi. She didn't want her son to be involved in the fight at any stage; he could even be used as a hostage to make them cooperate unwillingly. It was a discomforting thought she pushed out of her mind as her hands got to work.

The redheaded mother allowed her blue-tinted chakra to flare up in her palms, effortlessly melding the viscous energy into the ominous pattern of two identical kanji, each intent on inflicting paralysis the moment they made contact with human skin.

She leaned forward and kicked off explosively, rushing into the ongoing fight.

"Kaoru-chan, switch!" the elder Uzumaki cried sharply as she dashed in the direction of the younger redhead.

Kaoru didn't even glance in her sister's direction as she bounced away from the three shinobi she was engaged with.

With meticulous precision, Kushina slipped and weaved through the flailing limbs and sharp weapons, slapping her palms onto the bodies of the three Iwa Shinobi. As expected, they all slumped on the floor, instantly paralyzed.

The three shinobi, despite being completely immobilized, could still look up and direct all their frustration at their lack of skill and the fact that their opponent had incapacitated them all so quickly.

The two redheads, on the other hand, did not have the luxury of wasting time after their enemies' defeat; Kushina lifted her son from the bushes and started running again without a single passing glance for their fallen enemies. They'd be up and chasing them not too long after anyway, the purely-chakra seal wasn't designed to cripple, more to delay.

"Kushina-neesama…" the younger sister suddenly called out to her sister as they ran, trees whipping past at an astonishing rate. The addressee shifted her gaze to the other redhead in question, her mind idly focusing on her pacing and breathing while she subconsciously kept checking their six.

"What is it Kaoru-chan?" she asked, her words short and clipped.

"Let's split up."

Kaoru's measured tone and words caused Kushina to almost stumble in shock at what her sister was suggesting. Little Naruto squeaked in surprise at his mother's misstep, tightening his hold around her neck in fear. Thankfully, she immediately managed to regain her footing as she whipped her head towards her sister, staring at her with wide eyes.

"What!? Why should we split up? I will never leave you behind, Dattebane!" she loudly protested, glaring in defiance at her younger sister.

Kaoru shook her head, refusing to listen to her elder sister. "No, nee-sama. They are gaining on us; we need to split up. If we do, it will increase our chances of survival," the younger redhead defended.

"B-but-"

Kushina tried to protest again only to snap her mouth shut at the determined look in her sister's eyes.

"Nee-sama, listen to me. I'll distract them with clones disguised as you and Naruto as I run on the path towards Konoha. You, on the other hand, will run in the opposite direction. They will surely follow my path because they expect us to head straight to Konoha," Kaoru explained with narrowed eyes, gears spinning inside her head as she analyzed their situation.

The elder Uzumaki shook her head. She refused to be separated from her sister. "No! They will catch you, 'ttebane!"

"Kushina!" Kushina was caught off guard with her sister's unusual exclamation, being directly called her first name making it even more so.

"Nee-sama, you have a son. You need to think of his and your safety first," she paused. "I will be fine. I can easily evade them because I'll be alone. I'll distract them with clones."

Kaoru's tone did not waver; a testament to her willpower.

"But you'll run out of chakra soon," the elder redhead weakly protested, despite knowing that her sister's strong resolve wouldn't budge one bit.

"Nee-sama, we are Uzumaki, we have huge chakra reserves. Trust me, I will make it back to Konoha," the younger redhead assured. However, the elder sister couldn't help but be concerned for her safety. For years she had thought that she was the only one left, and suddenly; a miracle happened and she was reunited with her younger sister. The thought of losing her again after she just got her back tore her to pieces.

Kushina opened her mouth to protest again, but what came out instead was a choked cry of pain. Her foot slipped, the sudden shock temporarily overwhelming her senses.

"Nee-sama!" Kaoru gasped, hands whipping out to steady her plummeting sibling. Regardless, their combined momentum forced them to tussle and tumble to the ground.

"Mommy!" Naruto, who had been previously silent as his mother and auntie argued, cried out in worry.

Kushina's legs buckled as pain spread throughout her backside and she dropped to the earthy floor on her knees. Naruto immediately stood on his toes as he checked his mother for injury and began to bawl when he saw a kunai lodged on his mother's back, located just on the upper side of her hip. The entry had not been nice, the kunai deeply gashing into her body.

"Mommy!" Naruto exclaimed, panicking as the emerald-green blouse of his mother became soaked in a vivid red, small flecks of crimson spurting at her every movement.

Kaoru moved fast as she saw that another four shinobi from Iwa were nearing them. She quickly turned back towards the rigid figure of her sister and grabbed the handle of the offending kunai, her brashness earning a moan of pain from her sibling.

"Nee-sama hold your breath!" the younger redhead warned before unceremoniously yanking the kunai out of her sister's back. Kushina bit her lip, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, but it did little to mask the searing emptiness left by the tool.

"Nee-sama, please tend to your wound, I'll take care of the _pests_ ," Kaoru said, hissing the last words out as she ripped a part of her skirt and passing it to her sister. Kushina quietly took the piece of cloth as her sister stood up and intercepted another group of Iwagakure Shinobi, alone.

Kushina wasted no time drawing a simple and small seal on the cloth, Naruto watching curiously as he wiped his tears while his mother worked. After flourishing the final stroke to the seal, the woman placed it on her wound, wincing at the burning feeling that arose.

"Naruto, close your eyes and cover your ears," she softly instructed her child, and he stared right back at her worriedly, but reluctantly nodded in response.

"O-okay mommy." he agreed, eyes staring at his mother in fear, fear of losing one of his sole parents. Kushina smiled at her son, grasping the side of his cheek lovingly.

"Listen to mommy Naruto, no matter what you hear, don't open your eyes or remove your hands from your ears, understand?" the redhead mother repeated, her voice taking a sterner tone.

"O-okay mommy. If you say sow." the child shakingly agreed. Tears were already running down his cheeks again as he sniffled and tried to muffle his sobs.

"You need to promise me, sweetheart," Kushina insisted, afraid that her son would forever be traumatized by this scene.

Little Naruto cried harder as he looked at the soft but pained expression of his mother, hardly understanding what she wanted to do but knew that it was something that she didn't want him to remember.

For a 4-year-old boy, this was too much to handle, but the little blond wasn't just any ordinary boy. He was the son of two legendary shinobi and the Jinchuriki of the most powerful Bijuu. Even with his young mind, he quite understood their situation, he was a bit confused, but he could guess that his mother wanted to do something, something that could hurt him.

His mother had always thought of his well being no matter how much she suffered. His mother was the best mother in the world. He loved his mother so much.

So as the child wiped his tears on his dirty sleeve. He stared straight into his mother's beautiful violet-blue eyes. "I promise mommy. I will never go back on my words, dattebayo!"

Kushina stared at his son's resolute cerulean eyes and watched as he turned his back on her, clamping his chubby hands on his ears.

The mother watched her son's back with a saddened expression for a few seconds as tears started falling down her cheeks. She bit her lower lip and tried her best to stifle her shout as she activated the seal that she had placed directly on her wound.

The seal hummed with chakra, and suddenly a blazing flame roared to life, scorching the wounded skin on her back. The smell of charred flesh filled the air as a piercing wail laden with agony resounded throughout the forest.

Kaoru glanced at her sister as she dodged another Earth style jutsu aimed at her, frowning as she realized what her sister was planning to do next. She yanked a hidden piece of cloth from her rapidly shrinking skirt and slapped it on the ground, activating one of her own inventions to counter her enemies. An ominous glow lit the fabric alight as tens of water tendrils shot out simultaneously.

**"Fuinjutsu: Watery Thorn Maze."**

The tendrils quickly surrounded the unfortunate two Iwa-nin, crisscrossing into an inescapable tangle of sharp thorns of water, before piercing through both unforgivingly.

The other two Iwa-nin formed a set of hand signs with practiced precision, slamming their palms on the ground as they immediately shouted the name of the jutsu, **"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"**

As if the earth itself had answered the call, a thick wall of earth emerged from the ground, successfully blocking the vicious tendrils.

Kaoru scowled as she jumped away from her enemies.

Thoughts and strategies to defeat the remaining Iwa-nin came to mind, but none could fend off so many enemies for a long period of time. She wanted to conserve her chakra as much as possible, so she only used low-level seals and avoided using elemental Ninjutsu due to her current state.

She wasn't in her full power so she needed to use her chakra wisely and conserve as much as she could. Attacking using Fuinjutsu would save her more chakra, in the long run, she figured. She chanced another glance at her sister and decided it was time for plan B.

Meanwhile, Kushina was already slumped on the floor, tormented by the ongoing crushing pain. Finally, her anguish lessened a bit to a much tolerable ache after a few breathing exercises, taking in deep gulps of breath as the wound on her back was successfully cauterized, preventing the wound from bleeding out further.

There was blood on her palm and nails as she unconsciously dug it through her skin, and a small cut on her lower lip had appeared due to how hard she'd bitten on it.

Hands cold and trembling, she tore a piece of fabric from her blouse and folded it, using it as leverage to put pressure on the wound, hissing in pain as the burning feeling on the wound intensified.

She immediately started wrapping her wound with the cloth that her sister had given her. Her skin was pale and a bit cold as her hands continued to tremble with so much pain wracking her body.

Kushina took a measured, long, deep breath as she stared at her son's shaking figure. Even though he never moved from his position, she knew that he had heard her screams of pain, but he had kept his promise.

"Naruto," she called, voice still very weak. She touched his back with a trembling hand and the child jolted. He immediately turned around and wrapped his shuddering arms around her neck, burrowing his face into the crook of her neck.

"Mommy."

Kushina encircled her heavy arms around the small figure of her son as he cried his heart out. The older Uzumaki would have if given the opportunity, but in this situation, she couldn't let her heart and mind falter if they were to survive.

And yet she didn't want her son to experience things like this at such a young age. She wanted her son to have a happy childhood, a normal life with loving parents that she and her husband both lost at an early age. But her son didn't get what they wanted for him, he had already begun to suffer not even a few minutes after he was born.

This world was just too cruel.

 _'My poor baby.'_ The mother agonized over her son's stolen innocence and happy childhood. She wanted the world for her son. She wanted the best for him, but this was all she could give him. Pain, agony, and a burden so huge that his small shoulders shouldn't be able to begin to carry it.

Kushina couldn't help but loath the people who did this to them. She despised them with every fiber of her being.

"Don't worry honey, mommy…will be fine," the mother assured her son as she smiled tenderly at the young blond.

"There they are!" Kushina whipped her head to stare at her sister as the younger Uzumaki woman fought the remaining Iwa Shinobi alone, she had managed to incapacitate two of her opponents and was already dealing with the last two. However, the elder woman narrowed her eyes as she saw reinforcements arriving.

"Kaoru-chan!" Kushina called out to her sister.

The younger kunoichi looked up from her fight and saw the approaching shinobi. She kicked her opponents away from her and immediately slammed paralysis seals on each of their bodies when they were distracted a bit by the arrival of their comrades.

Kaoru stopped to gaze at her sister, and Kushina, somehow understanding what her sister was trying to convey, shook her head and mumbled a quiet, _"No."_

The younger Uzumaki woman smiled encouragingly at her sister and proceeded to slam her palms on the ground, blue chakra flaring in between her fingers.

" _ **Uzumaki Genjutsu: Nightmare Dance."**_

A wave of chakra gushed out from the seal, wasting no time encapsulating every nearby shinobi in the forest. The very air seemed to bend as the chakra seeped into every tree and living being

The Iwa ninjas slumped, their eyes becoming cloudy and vacant, captured in the illusion.

Once she had confirmed that they'd all been enthralled by the lingering chakra, Kaoru jumped up and started leaping through the trees straight to the path towards Konoha and, like lost ducklings without their mother, the reinforcement shinobi followed suit, eyes blinded by the illusion as they ran past Kushina and Naruto.

Kushina wiped her face, eyes shadowed by despair as she smudged and removed the previous seal from her hand and in its place drew another, a bigger statis seal that stretched from the tips of her fingers to the top of her shoulder, engulfing the entirety of her arm.

At this point, it was simply delaying the inevitable, as the purpose of this was to dull and nullify the pain just so that she could push herself a bit further, for her and her child.

The redheaded-woman then gathered her crying son in her arms and proceeded to run into another direction, away from where her sister had run.

The mother ran with her son without stopping. Clutching her crying child to herself as she silently wept for her brave, reckless sister.

 _'I will look for you Kaoru-chan. If you don't make it back to Konoha. I'll trash the whole Elemental Nations just to look for you,'_ Kushina solemnly vowed as she ran through the forest away from Iwagakure.

* * *

After two hours of running, the redhead realized that they were finally coming out of Earth's country. Just a little more push and they would be inside the border of the Fire country.

Suddenly it felt like a thousand knives had pierced her back and she belatedly realized that the stasis seal had finally lost its effectiveness and the pain was back to pay it back tenfold.

"Damn it.." she muttered, stumbling slightly on her next stride.

"Mommy," little Naruto murmured out in worry as he saw his mother's face contorted in a pained grimace.

"M-mommy's…fine Naruto," Kushina tried to assure her blond son, but the boy was already crying.

"M-mommy, y-you need a d-doctor," the four years old stuttered as he cried, sniffling as snot and tears messed up his face.

Kushina gritted her teeth as the feeling of pain intensified, her hands felt so cold and she was sure that she looked as white as paper and Naruto cried harder as he saw the unnatural color of her mother's skin.

"N-Naruto…sweetheart, m-mommy's ok, let's just find–Ah!" the redhead huffed as the pain in her back seemingly increased exponentially. She was reaching her limit, she could tell.

The little boy panicked as he saw the weakened state of his mother and his eyes darted everywhere. Looking for a safe place where she could rest.

"There!" Naruto shouted as he saw something in the corner of his eyes.

"Mommy! Let's go hide! There!" The blond boy started to help her mother up and drag her towards a cave hidden among trees and bushes. Kushina tried her best to stand up on her own as her son held her hand firmly in his small hands.

She chuckled faintly, "My, what a gentleman you are."

"Mommy, I-I just want you to be better." The boy sniffled.

Kushina could only reply with a painful grimace as she pushed her jelly legs to move.

Mother and son trudged with difficulty towards the entrance of the cave, and when they finally made it inside, the redhead succumbed to her exhaustion and agony. Her legs buckled and darkness slowly clouded her consciousness. The last thing she heard as her consciousness faded was her son's anxious weeping. And then Kushina knew no more.

* * *

When Naruto saw his mother lose consciousness, he assumed the worst. Without really knowing where to go, the little boy ran out of the cave to look for someone to help his mother.

The boy was frantic, but he still knew who to avoid – those bad people with a weird design on their foreheads. They were evil and they wanted to hurt his mommy.

After seeing the same headband tied on the forehead of many Iwa Shinobi that he encountered for the past four years of his life, Naruto had pretty much memorized its appearance. So much so, that he could practically picture them in his mind even when he closed his eyes.

So as the blond boy ran through the forest, he made sure to look out for those bad guys with a specific design on their forehead. A small insignia of two rectangles overlapping each other.

Naruto ran and ran as he pushed his tiny legs to move and just find something. Something or someone to help his mother.

"Please, mommy needs help," the blond boy kept on mumbling as he ran without direction. He realized after a while that he didn't know what he was going to do or where he was going to go and that he was just running in a loop, so he stopped and started bawling to his heart's content.

 **"Crying will not help, brat."** The Kyuubi's guttural voice resonated inside the little boy's head, and the next instant, the blond was standing inside a dark place that looked like a sewer with his feet submerged in the ankle-deep water in front of a giant, worn cage as he kept on crying.

"B-but, m-mommy's hurt, a-and I don't know what to do!"

**"Tch, crying wouldn't help you either."**

If one looked closely, the fox seemed uncomfortable as the child in front of him kept bawling.

The mighty Kurama, the most powerful of the Bijuu, didn't want to admit it, but the little boy had grown on him and he wasn't completely indifferent to seeing him in so much anguish.

Of course, this development did not happen on the spot.

It was two years ago when the fox and his jailor had first met.

* * *

_Kurama was pissed off, the moment he thought that he was finally going to be free, it was destroyed by yet another power-hungry old man._

' _Humans are truly despicable.'_

_Now he was stuck inside a baby. A baby who didn't even know how to walk!_

_When he finally gets out of this cage, he was sure to tear those stupid, mindless mongrels into shreds._

_The Kyuubi no Kitsune banged one of his large tails on the cage before he decided to just sleep his irritation away. And so, the greatest of the Bijuu slept for the following months, wallowing in his solitude inside his newly formed prison._

_The following days and months passed too quickly without Kyuubi's notice and finally, two years had passed since he was sealed again, and his little jailor had grown a bit._

_Kurama didn't do anything aside from sleeping and cursing the humans who sealed him away as he sometimes heard their irritating voice inside his host's mindscape. He could squish these fools with just a single tail._ _He wanted to stomp and tear them into pieces._

_Sometimes he observed the outside world through the eyes of his new jailor, and he couldn't help but hate humans more than he hated them before._

_The Nine-Tailed Fox didn't hate his previous jailor, he just_ disliked _her. Yes, that was a big difference in Kurama's dictionary. It meant that she was on the neutral side of the battle, and the fox may or may not include her in his righteous revenge. After all, she never once used his power just for the sake of having power, but he also disliked her for that._

_He couldn't try anything to escape because the wench never once used his power – except that one time during the Third Shinobi War when the redhead woman was consumed by grief and anger after witnessing her whole team get slaughtered, which he immediately took as an opportunity to finally escape his prison until that blond mongrel interfered and destroyed all his chances of escaping again. After that, the redhead had never used his power again – so he was stuck inside of her for years and he grew so bored that he developed an unhealthy habit of watching his jailor on a pranking-spree._

_But even he, the embodiment of hatred, was disgusted with what these humans did to his previous jailor. Especially what they were planning to do with his power._

_So, if Kurama was going to choose, he would choose the lesser evil. Right now though, he couldn't do anything anymore. He failed to escape when the redheaded-woman was in labor, and now he was stuck inside of a two-year-old child._

_He could only hope that the duo would be able to escape before that old man's plan was executed._

_The time passed by so quickly just like any other century, Kurama watched and waited patiently for what was about to happen, and when he saw an opening, he would grab it and burst his way out of this curse cage._

_Imagine the fox's surprise when one day he was awakened by a presence in front of his cage and when he opened one majestic eye, he saw his two-year-old jailor looking at his prone form in wonder._

_The giant orange fur moved and walked closer towards the giant bars of his cage and loom over the toddler, staring down at his jailor with an intimidating aura surrounding him._

_**"Brat,"**_ _his magnificent voice boomed around the place, as the child watched him with eyes wide as saucers._

 _Kurama expected many things from the child's reaction. Terror, surprise, and confusion were preferable. But think of the sheer_ surprise _he was struck by when the child suddenly exclaimed with a voice laced with so much enthusiasm as he giddily pointed at him._

_"What a cute furbowl!" (What a cute furball) the two-year-old blond child happily exclaimed as he jumped in place in excitement._

_"Les'go pway! Les'go pway 'ttebayo!" (Let's go play! Let's go play, 'ttebayo!") he demanded excitedly as he clapped his chubby hands in front of him. Cerulean eyes were twinkling with so much exhilaration that Kurama couldn't do anything but stare, mouth left agape._

_**"Y-YOU INSOLENT WHELP! I, THE MIGHTY KYUUBI NO KITSUNE, AM NOT HERE TO PLAY WITH YOU, YOU WORTHLESS BRAT! COME CLOSER AND LET ME TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!"**_ _The mighty Kyuubi roared after he recovered from his shock. He even stuttered a bit at the start, too flabbergasted at the child's excitement in seeing_ him _, which hadn't ever happened to him in the history of…forever!_

_The impact of his roar caused a powerful shockwave inside the boy's mindscape and Kurama pretty much expected for the blond kid to run back to his mother, shaking and crying with far more terror than before._

_Nevertheless, the little rascal effortlessly took the wind out of his sails a second time when the brat just stared at him with stars in his eyes as he clasped his chubby hands in front of him and bounced closer to the large bars of his cage and-_

_"OOOHHH! AMAAAAYYYYZZZIN Dattebayo! Your sow amayzen! Your voice is BOOOMM! Yeeey!"(Ooh! Amazing, dattebayo! You're so amazing! Your voice is BOOM! Yeey!) the child exclaimed, body vibrating with too much excitement that Kurama almost face faulted, and to his never-ending horror, the child started dancing like an idiot chicken in front of him._

_"Would'ja teach me that!? Com'on com'on com'on! Le's go pwaaaay Dattebayo!" (Would you teach me that? Come'on Come'on! Let's go play!) the little hellion shouted as he pumped his fist upward in a victory pose (whether he knew that or not, the befuddled fox didn't know), body practically vibrating with so much enthusiasm that gave Kurama whiplash._

_The Kyuubi no Kitsune, strongest and mightiest being on the planet AND among the other Bijuu, felt the urge to facepalm or bang his head into his cage. This was plain stupid. So, so stupid! Kurama couldn't deal with this brat. Snarling viciously, the giant fox flicked his tail and threw the loud brat out of his mindscape._

_**"Ahh, peace and quiet at last,"** _ _the mass of orange fur sighed as he laid back down and attempted to go back to sleep. He hoped that the next time he met the child, he wasn't as ridiculous as their first meeting. Kurama snorted as he remembered the first thing that the child said to him._

_That foolish brat, He's the first being whoever called him 'cute furball'. That description shouldn't be the first thing to describe him during the first meetings. 'Scary, gigantic, intimidating, beastly, and evil' were more appropriate. But 'cute'?! That stupid brat was delusional. Besides, who in their right mind would ask the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune to play? Kurama grunted in annoyance as he remembered the exuberant two-year-old blond. He hoped to the high heavens that he wouldn't see that brat again._

_Unfortunately for Kurama, the high heavens seemed to hate his guts, as the next morning, he was abruptly awakened by a very familiar presence, one whom he didn't want to be involved with. So with a guttural growl, he flicked the brat out of his cage with a single tail._

_But to Kurama's utter horror, the little hellion was persistent. He goes inside his mindscape to annoy the living daylights out of his orange fur every single time he has a chance. He keeps on bubbling gibberish things to the fox, making the mighty Kyuubi turn around and clamped his gigantic paws in his ears to muffle the blond's none stop chattering._

_As the days passed by, Kurama got tired of kicking the blond kid out of his cage and just tuned out his nonsensical chattering._

_A year had passed with the same routine and the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune finally spoke for the first time after their first meeting._

_"Mommy said that wamen is fud for the gawds-" ("Mommy said that ramen is food for the gods-)_

_**"Hey brat, why do you keep on coming here? I'm not even speaking with you,"** _ _the fox asked curiously with a facade of disinterest, although he really was curious about the boy's answer._

_"Da's easy! I go tawlk with you so you won' be lo-nely. Aren't you lo-nely?" (That's easy! I go talk with you so you won't be lonely. Are you lonely?") the blond kid answered innocently as he tilted his head to the side in a cute manner. Looking like what he said was pretty much obvious._

_Kurama was beyond flabbergasted. He opened and closed his huge snout in a more or less accurate imitation of a fish, then came the flushed anger._

_**"Are you an idiot!? I'm a Bijuu! I don't get lonely! What makes you think that I'm lonely?!"** _ _the fox thundered at the kid, and the addressed boy closed one of his eyes as he clamped his chubby hands on his ears._

_"Hey! Everyone gets lonely! Me and my mommy is also trapped! Mommy said that I can't go out, becoz the bad people won't a-llow usss! You're also trapped, right? And bein trap is lo-lonely so I can be your fwend!" ("Hey! Everyone gets lonely! Me and my mommy is also trapped! Mommy said that I can't go out because the bad people won't allow us!) The gibberish explanation was said with a lot of stumbles over the right pronunciation, but somehow, Kurama understood what the boy was trying to say, and that was scary enough for the almighty Bijuu. Because how the hell did he understand those gibberish baby talks, and why in the world was he even speaking with this brat?_

_The fox didn't know if all toddlers were like this, but he was pretty much sure that no other toddler would ask to be his friend, nope. They would more than likely run for their mother, bawling about a certain 'scary giant fox or evil orange fox.' But this one. This one was plain stupid._

_**"Tch, I don't need a friend,"** _ _the gigantic fox denied, snorting at the thought, and turned away from the boy. The blond grinned from ear to ear when he realized that the giant furball hadn't thrown him out yet, and so the kid started talking nonsense again, not caring whether the fox answered or not; at least he knew that he was listening, even though he really didn't have much choice in the matter._

_The next time the blond boy visited, he wasn't thrown out of the mindscape like before, and as time passed by like a lightning strike, the fox started commenting with the boy's nonsensical chattering._

_**"That's stupid, Brat. Ramen is not the only food in the world."** _

_Of course, commenting means insulting the boy with every single thing he said, but the child didn't stop coming inside the mindscape to give the mighty Kyuubi much-needed company. This was refuted vehemently by the enormous Bijuu, but no one could deny the fact that the little blond devil was no longer getting thrown out of the mindscape._

_One day, Kurama woke up with a child on his snout snoring loudly without a care in the world and the great Nine-tailed fox snorted as he closed his eyes and went back to sleep._

_When Naruto was found sitting on top of the fox's head on another occasion or just plain hugging the mighty beast's snout as he basked in the comfortable orange fur of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, no one commented. After all, this development was only known by the two parties involved._

* * *

"W-what should I do?" the brat cried out as he rubbed his eyes with two chubby hands.

Kurama blanched as the boy bawled louder than ever. If this continued, then the enemy would find them, and that was something the fox really didn't want to see, for his and his vessel's sake. He couldn't let the brat be caught especially when his powers were at stake. The fact that he was worried about the little brat's well-being was unsaid, but that wasn't important for now.

 **"Hey, brat. Let's play."** With great reluctance, the Kyuubi leaked out a small portion of his chakra until it started to envelop the boy's body.

That did the trick. The almost-four-year-old boy stopped crying as he was suddenly distracted by the beautiful orange chakra surrounding him.

"Yey! Pwetty owange!" the happy blond exclaimed with excitement as he jumped around playing with the orange chakra of the great Kyuubi no Kitsune. Who said that the Nine-Tails' power was only used for destruction? No one said that it could also be used as a child's plaything, as humiliating as it may have seemed.

The fox looked on in satisfaction as the boy stopped bawling and his ear-cringing cries were replaced by Kurama's secret favorite music nowadays, Naruto's cute giggling and laughter.

Of course, as the boy was busy playing with the Bijuu's chakra, that was when the fast entrance of one Itachi Uchiha happened. And a game of cat and mouse took place, one that Kurama very much enjoyed, especially when he saw the defeated appearance of their pursuer.

 **"Good job kit. You did well,"** Kurama praised the blond with an air of satisfaction worthy of a proud mother, completely amused with the turn of events. Naruto grinned so wide at his friend's compliment.

No one knew at that time that the amusing teenager would become their awesome savior.

* * *

The next time Kushina gained consciousness, she realized that she was lying on her stomach and someone was tending to her injuries. Of course, that caused a bit of a panic to the redhead, so she attempted to move.

"Nn...Ah!... " the wounded Kunoichi tried to speak but her throat was raw, and her voice sounded hoarse even to her own ears.

"Mommy!" she heard her son's voice cry out and not a few seconds later, her little boy appeared in her line of vision.

"N-Naruto… " Kushina mumbled weakly.

"You're finally awake Kushina-sama."

The woman suddenly jolted as she heard the deeper voice of a young male.

"Wha–" Kushina tried to say but was cut off when she felt a hand on her shoulder trying to steady her.

"Please do not put more strain on your body, Kushina-sama or your wounds will open up again," the person stated, and the redhead stopped moving.

"W-who are you? How do you know my name?" the wounded woman demanded, suspicion lacing her voice despite her current predicament. The person was still out of her sight, so no one could blame the woman's suspicious nature, especially when her child was with her without protection.

"Mommy! Tachi-niisan is a friend! He treated your booboo!" little Naruto defended the 14-year-old as he dragged the teenager in front of his mother, and Kushina's eyes widened as she recognized the attire of the person she was talking to.

"See!" The boy exclaimed as he gestured towards his savior, but his mother wasn't listening anymore, her eyes were focused on the familiar insignia designed on the forehead protector that the teenager was wearing.

 _'Konoha's forehead protector! A-and that face! Mikoto's eldest, Itachi-kun! I-it's Itachi-kun! Then that means–'_ the Kushina's frantic thoughts were cut short when the boy started speaking.

"It's okay Naruto, I'll introduce myself," the young teen said as he lightly patted the little boy's head, then he kneeled in front of the wounded woman's prone body.

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, and I am one of the Fourth Hokage's personal ANBU guards."

_***END OF CHAPTER FIVE*** _

* * *

**Leave your REVIEWS!**

**(UPDATE FOR MY STORIES ARE FOUND IN MY PROFILE.)**

_**-SyrinxSilenus** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! After two months I finally got this chapter ready. Before going through the story, I would like to inform you guys of the changes I made from the Prologue up to chapter 4. The changes are not that big but it's relevant to where the plot of this story, I suggest rereading it again. Anyways, If there are still people who are waiting for this story to be updated, here it is, I hope this is enough to satisfy your long wait.
> 
> -SyrinxSilenus


	7. Chapter 6: Itachi to Kushina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of my awesome betas (they're new)
> 
> Nedoko-maki, 13talos, Vynush, to2llyuntraceable, ProngIsABadger, Ladybirdwrites

_**A/N:** _ _I'M ALIVE!_

I'm sooooo sorry this took five months to come out. It isn't intentional I promise you. So many things unexpectedly happened and this one took longer to come out (especially the beta problem), but here it is. I read all your comments and I thank everyone who followed and favorited this story.

Anyways, I'm sorry for the rant, that one really irritates the hell out of me for a while now. Putting that aside, here's chapter 6.

 **Warning:** LANGUAGE! LANGUAGE! Kushina has a foul mouth! TORTURE SCENE AHEAD! This story is Rated **M** for a reason.

* * *

_**The Fourth Hokage's Son** _

_**Chapter Six** _

The sun slowly rose up to the horizon; a canopy of gold light amid the blue bidding the darkness of the night goodbye. It was supposed to be a fine morning for Onoki.

Today, he was supposed to finally be able to start training the new Jinchuriki to become his most powerful weapon. He was supposed to be a step closer in his plan to destroy Konoha's Yellow Flash. Instead, he was rudely awoken by his ANBU guards at the crack of dawn informing him of a prison break, and not just any prison; but the prison where his prized jinchūriki had been held.

It took Onoki a few moments longer than he'd like to admit to realize what kind of prison break his shinobi were implying, and it was like a bucket of icy water had been dumped on his balding head, his drowsiness forgotten in an instant. His eyes bulged and he was out of his bed in seconds, flying towards the deepest section of Iwa's dungeons in nothing but his pyjamas.

The almost drum-like alarm bells for the prison break echoed through his ears as the shinobi assigned to the dungeon ran in panic and confusion.

Those were the questions within every Shinobi on call. One thing was abundantly clear to all:

_It was utter chaos._

A few things stood out amidst the mess of rocks and running shinobi: the scattered playing cards and bottles, the occasional half-chewed meal scattered haphazardly against the walls, clearly the afterthought of many a guard due to the attention-demanding alarm blaring.

A pulsing nerve ticked on his forehead and his eyes twitched. Onoki landed slowly on his feet, gazing at the crumbled wall of their underground dungeon with rising fury.

"You insolent _fools_! Who told you to slack off outside of those women's cells! You-you–" His eyes were bloodshot red, the veins in his temple threatening to pop from rage.

"FIND THEM, OR SO HELP ME I WILL USE YOUR BONES AS TOOTHPICKS FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS!" Onoki roared and the three unfortunate guards inside the now empty cell room scrambled to obey his command.

"Cursed Uzumaki women!" He hissed as he stared disdainfully at the destroyed wall and the irritating remnants of a seal written in blood.

* * *

Kushina had often hallucinated with being rescued and coming back home to her husband, and each time she was caught within one of these fever dreams, it became increasingly harder to come back to reality. Many times, she had imagined Naruto and Minato's first meeting. She could just _imagine_ his surprise, his adorable fumbling and stuttering before his brain grinded to a halt. Minato would faint in shock and she would laugh merrily at his prone form while cute, clueless Naruto grasped at her skirt in confusion.

Then she would introduce her baby boy to her friends. She would brag and parade her incredibly cute baby who was something of a carbon copy of Minato. The village would pamper her son, but she would teach him humility. Together with her husband, they would raise Naruto to be the greatest, kindest, and bravest shinobi to ever live. She would finally move on from captivity and live the life that she had longed for with her little family.

During these hallucinations she was rescued by different people from Konoha. More frequently, it was her husband who busted her out of Iwa's dungeons. At times, she dreamed that Konoha's most elite shinobi would rescue her. But right here, right now, face to face with one of Konohagakure's ANBU operatives, reality felt like more of a dream than the times she had hallucinated while in captivity.

He was donning a standard set of Konoha's ANBU uniform with his ceramic animal mask strapped to his hip as he stared at her with a face bare of emotion.

A familiar face. One that she had seen so many times back in the village. She could remember vividly the first time she had laid eyes on him; he was so small, with such little hands and cute toes. Little Itachi, Mikoto and Fugaku's first born. Her godson.

_'Itachi-chan.'_

If not for her injury, she would have tackled Itachi to the ground in an unbreakable bear hug of love, just to make sure that he was alive and real and _there._ It had been _years_ since she last saw him, back when he was only about nine years old if her memory served her right. She didn't know if Itachi knew that she was his godmother. When Itachi was born, they were forced to keep her close relationship with the Uchiha hidden for political reasons. As Konoha's only jinchūriki, Kushina really should not be open about her connections to the secluded Uchihas so as to avoid political drama before Minato's appointment as Fourth Hokage. It had been more than four years since Minato had become the Hokage so Kushina didn't know if Itachi knew their relationship or not.

She did not know how long she had been staring at him since his introduction. She was having a hard time processing what the 14-year-old was saying to her.

For the past four years, Kushina had put a strong front for the sake of her son and sister. Through all the pain and hardship she had endured for so long, she swore to herself that come hell or high water she would return to her beloved village. She had never let them think that she believed otherwise. However, no one can lie to themselves forever. The more she deceived herself, the more lost she became, amongst waves upon waves of soul shattering hopelessness.

As time passed by, months and years came and went, and she continued to wake up inside a cold cell in Iwagakure, the idea of Konoha became the subject of fantasies that she could only reach in her dream.

After the absolute desolation she had endured at the hands of the many Iwa shinobi, seeing someone familiar, someone from her beloved village, and especially her best friend's son–her _godson_ –in front of her after four years of imprisonment, tore the mask she had been wearing into pieces. She gently, nearly shakily, cupped Itachi's face and stroked the warm skin that lay beneath.

 _'Goodness, he's_ _definitely Fuku-face's son.'_

At the sudden reminder of her friends, she couldn't help the tears that burst out of her eyes. Just the thought of Mikoto's demure chuckles, of Fugaku's irritated face, flung her back into the sea of repressed memories she had tucked away deep in her heart in hopes that someday she would be able to look back on them with joy rather than sadness.

Seeing little Itachi's face devoid of his baby fat and innocence made her painfully aware of the lost years that she could have spent together with her precious friends and family. The lost opportunity she had to bond with her godson. She could not help the feeling of regret that welled in her heart as wave after wave of memories assaulted her mercilessly. She wondered if Tsunade had stayed in the village or decided to continue her plan to travel and stay away from Konoha? Or if Miko-chan succeeded in making her stay there for the rest of her life.

_'Tsunade should be there. She's waiting for me.'_

At the thought of her blonde friend, her thoughts couldn't help but drift towards Minato. Their final farewell at the village's gate. How he looked like he hadn't wanted her to leave but afraid to tell her thinking that he didn't have the right to make the decision for her. She remembered their final embrace, the last time she had tasted his lips on her. How he had clutched her to his person like a last lifeline. She knew back then that Minato hadn't wanted her to leave, but her thoughts were clouded by her desire to prove her worth to the village, blissfully unaware that she was walking blindly into a four-year hell that just seemed to make her life miserable.

She regretted it. She shouldn't have let Koharu's taunt affect her and her opinion of herself. Now look where it had got her. Funny how she thought that she was powerful and skilled enough to take on anyone in a simple B rank mission. Now, she couldn't do anything but wallow in self-pity and regret. She had even dragged their son into this mess. If only she weren't so selfish and prideful back then, if only she had been more mindful of the visible hesitation on Minato's face, she and their innocent baby boy wouldn't have experienced such hardship.

If only, if only.

The tears came faster than before, big drops of salty water covered her whole face, and she bit her lip to stifle her sobs. She was probably a sight to be hold. She hadn't taken a proper bath for so long, she was filthy and bloodied, and she was probably freaking out poor little Itachi.

Seeing a grown woman bawl her eyes out in front of him, the wife of the famous Yellow Flash at that, was probably sending the teen's pulse into frenzy. She could practically see the many stages of panic crossing through the young Uchiha's onyx eyes. He put a hand on her arm, his gentle touch soothing her broken body. The tears cascaded down her cheeks and seem like they'd stop anytime soon. She imagined that she resembled the most _pleasant_ picture Itachi had ever seen.

"Kushina-sama, what's wrong?" said Itachi, tensing his arm like he was deactivating a paper bomb.

This time, Kushina didn't hide her grin and laughed at the _look_ on the ANBU's face. It reminded her of a hyperventilating Fugaku when a very pregnant Mikoto almost tripped on an unsuspecting rock. She couldn't help but laugh harder and harder. She was definitely freaking out her son and godson, but that mental image was something she'd never forget.

_'Seeing the stoicism of the Uchiha crumbling down is always a sight to behold. Oh Miko-chan, if you were here, I'd request a set of photos so this moment could be remembered.'_

* * *

It took all of Itachi's ANBU training not to twitch in front of the woman as she looked at him like a being worthy of praise. It made him uncomfortable to be stared at for so long, especially when the person who was staring at him was the famed Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. To make matters worse, said woman had started to cry in front of him.

 _'W-what did I do? Why is she crying?'_ he thought a bit frantically, startled at the sudden waterworks. He'd immediately put a hand on the woman's arm and awkwardly tried to sort out the problem.

_'And now she was laughing too! -I already made the Hokage's son cry earlier, and now his wife?'_

"You've grown up so much," said Kushina as she recovered from laughing, the tears were still visible on her cheeks, and yet, an uncertain, wobbly smile was perched on her lips.

' _She knew me? Quick, say something impressive to stop her from crying, Itachi!'_

In his haste to stop the waterworks, he opened his mouth without thinking.

"Uhh, yeah that happens to people."

_Silence…_

They stared at each other for three long agonizing seconds before Kushina bursted out laughing again, then moaning in pain and clutching her hip injury. Naruto looked back and forth between the two of them, looking lost while Itachi felt like dying inside.

He didn't know how to react to that.

_'Smooth… well, at least she's not crying anymore.'_

This was so bizarre. All that had happened in a span of four hours was mind-boggling. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"You remember me?" He asked. He hadn't expected to be recognized immediately. In fact, if he were to be honest, he hadn't expected that the famous woman would remember him at all.

He, on the other hand, remembered the redhead woman accompanying his mother a few times when he was young. There were a couple of house visits too, how could he ever forget her? She was known and feared all over the Elemental Nation for her expertise in Fuinjutsu and Kenjutsu.

_The Red Hot-Blooded Habanero._

A name that goes with the Yellow Flash of Konoha and the Legendary Sannin. He had grown up and he hadn't expected to be immediately recognized by someone as high profile as her.

"Of course I would remember you. I carried you a couple of times when you were a baby and your mother is one of my best friends," Kushina replied.

Itachi felt his ears burn in embarrassment as the woman looked at him fondly.

"Ah...well…" he stumbled, not knowing what to say.

To be looked at so fondly by Kushina Uzumaki, was… _humbling_.

"It's an honour to be remembered by you Kushina-sama. However–" he paused.

It had been four hours since he met little Naruto, and the allotted time given to them to return from their individual investigation had run out. He needed to get down to business.

"Kushina-sama, I'm here with an ANBU squad and we were supposed to return from our individual investigations an hour ago. I believe they are already looking for me," he informed the woman seriously. Kushina's eyes widened in alarm at the information.

"There are others with you? They can't know about my son and I!" Kushina said, wincing a little as she felt her wound sting.

Itachi's brow furrowed in curiosity at the sudden outburst.

"Kushina-sama, why don't you want them to know about you? They can help us escort you back to Konoha," he asked.

Itachi watched as Kushina gnawed on her lower lip, looking worried. He was immediately confused.

"T-there are things that happened. What happened f-four years ago wasn't an accident. I-It was planned, and I–I don't really know who to trust." Itachi frowned. He opened his mouth to ask something but stopped when he felt five flickers of chakra nearing their location.

"We have company," he solemnly informed.

"Naruto, watch over your mother. I'll take care of our uninvited guests," he instructed the little boy as he brought his ANBU mask back on his face, a mere flicker of his form giving away the tell-tale signs of a precisely controlled _Shunshin_.

"Come back safely, Tachi-niisan!" the blond child shouted to the wind as he stared at the opening of the cave with tears prickling the sides of his eyes.

* * *

The forest was eerily quiet. The birds weren't singing, crickets remained silent, and even the wind held its breath. Itachi looked down from the branch he was crouched on. Just a few meters away there were five Iwa shinobi who looked to be scouting the area, chakra well hidden. Itachi observed them, gauging their abilities. Two jounin and three chunin-level chakra signatures.

He soundlessly slid out his tanto from the sheath on his back and with well-practiced ease he _shunshin'ed_ behind one of the shinobi and swiftly slit his throat, covering his mouth so that his team wouldn't notice until it was too late. Blood spluttered out of the Iwa-nin's mouth and Itachi gently placed the body on the ground and dashed forwards to his next target.

' _One-D, Four-R. I can't afford to prolong this skirmish; the objective must depart from the area to receive medical support asap.'_

Another shunshin, another body laid soundlessly on the ground. It was unfortunate as this time the team leader turned his head to check his squad and widened his eyes in shock and disbelief.

Now that Itachi had been spotted, stealth for all intents and purposes was thrown out of the window.

The three remaining shinobi whipped around to glance at the inbound adversary before they pulled out their own collective kunai from their holster. One of them was rapidly forming hand seals.

**"Earth Style: Bedrock Coffin!"**

Around Itachi, two giant rock walls rose from the ground to crush him in-between, of which he managed to dodge by a hair's breadth through a quick execution of _Shunshin._ He landed behind two of the Iwa-nin and with a chakra boost on his legs, he swiped both of them at the same time. Their kunai made an unpleasant grating sound as they pressed against his tanto, the two kunai left with deep grooves in their tips and effectively useless for all future use.

The Iwa-nin weren't jounin for nothing though and locked his blade in with another kunai each. Itachi pulled hard on his tanto, but the Iwa-nin did not budge. One of them cackled, a toothy smirk present on face, his nervousness only given away by the beads of sweat trailing down his brow.

"You're done now, little leaf trash."

Itachi's Sharingan darted around, taking stock of the situation and catching a glimpse of the team leader going through a series of hand seals again while he was occupied with the other two. It seemed clear that before he dealt with these two, the other one would surely catch him in some unpleasant Earth Jutsu, and he wasn't willing to relinquish his blade without dealing any damage beforehand.

He exhaled lightly, and channelled chakra to his arms, amplifying his strength briefly, before pulling his tanto back and flipping forward, throwing three kunai while airborne: two at the heads of the Iwa-nin keeping his sword hostage, and one explosive tag at the remaining opponent.

The instant his feet touched the ground he sped forward, hand seals flashing in and out of existence as he approached the Iwa-nin, muttering the jutsu's name as his right palm flamed alight as if it were doused in gasoline, flames licking the sleeve of his ANBU uniform, the kanji for fire distinctly visible among the roiling red flames.

" **Fire Style: Immolation."**

The presumed leader ground his teeth in frustration as he abandoned the jutsu and threw up an Earth wall with the stomp of his foot to shield himself from the explosive tag. Itachi launched himself off the ground with a powerful leap, to a tree a bit behind the wall and at breakneck speed, dived and slammed his flaming palm against the body of the Iwa-nin, who wasn't given any time to even draw the sword on his waist. Itachi's opponent screamed when he realised his whole body had ruthlessly caught ablaze, neither removing his clothes nor burying himself in dirt would douse the flames.

It had been Itachi's attempt at recreating a technique that was rumoured to catch an object alight, and once caught in the technique, the flame would not go out for seven nights and seven days. It had been echoed in a few legends and myths from the Uchiha Library, and when he found out about it, his curiosity was piqued so much that he developed a jutsu that resembled the mythical technique. Regrettably, a knock-off was still a knock-off and his version only lasted for ten minutes, but it was enough time to disable a lesser opponent.

Itachi glanced back at the other two and saw only one had fallen to his surprise attack, the other glaring hatefully at him with a bleeding hand that had been impaled by his kunai. The Iwa-nin made to escape and inform other forces where this rogue Konoha ANBU was, but it was all for naught for he had already been caught in an intricate Genjutsu, and Itachi slit his throat without a second thought.

After Making sure his surrounding were clear with his Sharingan, he vanished from the bloodied clearing.

* * *

When Itachi returned to the cave a few minutes later, Kushina was already sitting with the help of her son.

They didn't have enough time to share information, _this_ was necessary. With his Sharingan still spinning hypnotically, Itachi kneeled in front of the wounded woman with a grim face.

"Forgive me Kushina-sama, but we don't have much time," he informed her before he locked eyes with her.

Kushina stared straight back at his Sharingan, understanding without words what he had intended to do.

The kunoichi managed to nod before Itachi entered her mind, reliving Kushina's four years of imprisonment in seconds.

* * *

Itachi stood inside Kushina's mindscape, looking through the kunoichi's memories for the day of her abduction.

Once he found them, he started to manipulate them, making sure everything happened quickly to avoid causing any lasting damage to the Fourth's wife.

For Kushina, she would only see the flickering of memories starting from when she was ambushed, but for Itachi, the scenes were playing at a normal pace as his Sharingan transferred the memories into his mind.

Everything was going smoothly, until the memories of her torture started.

Kushina's mind immediately latched onto the trauma and the flickering memory came into focus. Itachi was suddenly plunged inside the woman's body, experiencing the moments as if he was a part of her and seeing through her eyes.

 _'This isn't good,'_ he grimly thought before everything was swallowed by darkness.

* * *

_There was blood on the floor coming from Kushina. Itachi could feel the pain through his soul, making him grit his teeth while he tried his best to split his consciousness from hers, but it was harder than he thought. The trauma that Kushina experienced was too strong for him to flawlessly control like he previously had. She was unconsciously making the memories resurface and Itachi had been unwillingly pulled into it._

_The back of Kushina's skull throbbed as if it had been used like a wrecking ball; her body was stiff with pain when she suddenly jerked upright._

_Itachi observed through her eyes as he slowly succeeded in untangling himself from feeling her pain directly. He knew though that the woman was panicking, right before an epiphany came through her and she finally remembered where she was. She bit out a curse and moved her hand, but her wrists refused to budge._

_As if on cue, Itachi's consciousness was once again inside Kushina, feeling something on his wrist–well Kushina's wrist–restraining her._

_Tomoe's spinning again, he tried to remove himself from being inside of the woman's body when a string of thoughts zipped through his mind._

'Oh right, I forgot. Every time the torture starts, they hang me on these chains.'

_Indeed, she was being hung up; Itachi could feel her arms suspended in the air, though her knees were on the icy ground of the cell. Itachi could feel numbness spread in her arms after being in so much pain from having them up. Her eyes were blurry, and her memories were still a bit hazy._

_Itachi blinked through Kushina's eyes and suddenly, without even realizing it, something sharp and cold had dug into her skin. If Itachi could stiffen, he would have. Instead he tried his best to separate himself from the woman again, but the pull of the memory was still too strong._

_Itachi felt a sting on his – her – lower lip – she was biting it so hard – and from the multiple cuts on her skin._

_"Now we've been doing this for ages, Uzumaki. TELL ME YOUR VILLAGE'S SECRETS!" the man shouted, his voice reverberating around Kushina's mindscape._

_She winced visibly before squinting her eyes as if trying to see clearly even through the blood dripping from her forehead and over half of her face, making Itachi synchronize with her every action._

_"Fuck you 'ttebane." she spat out, venom lacing her raspy voice._

_Itachi felt a twinge of vindictive satisfaction at the woman's crass attitude towards her torturer._

'That's right Kushina-sama. You're the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero of Konoha, you don't just bow down to anyone.'

_Kushina grinned crookedly, teeth bloodied, and he could feel blood dripping down his chin. He even tasted the metallic copper in his mouth._

_Kushina's voice echoed around the mindscape while Itachi concentrated on detaching his mind from hers._

'You can't break me! I'm Kushina-fucking-Uzumaki, dattebane!'

 _"YOU INSOLENT WOMAN! TELL ME THE YELLOW FLASH'S_ _WEAKNESSES!" The order was quickly followed by a whip to the woman's legs._

 _Itachi just then realized that there was another torturer in Kushina's range. He gritted his teeth as he continued to see and feel them mercilessly strike_ _her. Her body quivering as pain skyrocketed through her. Itachi could feel them too, making his whole being shudder._

_She still refused to answer their questions._

_Strike after strike echoed around the mindscape followed by restrained grunts and whimpers of pain._

Itachi suffered the same agony, felt every whip she received, every speck of blood that had dropped to the unforgiving floor. He held strong, using all his shinobi training to continue the technique even when the strikes struck to the heart of his very being.

In ANBU, they had been submitted to countless torture sessions to increase their pain tolerance in case they were held hostage by other hidden villages. Hiding and silently bearing pain was one of Itachi's strong suits. So, he endured until finally he succeeded in fast-forwarding the memories again. It continued to move faster through Kushina's mind until another gruesome scene worked the woman's mind into yet another frenzy.

_The violent hum of electricity streaking through the air had been continuously assaulting her battered body, calling forth a grimace of agony as her current torturer electrocuted her with a high-level lightning jutsu, and Itachi was once again plunged into a mind-numbing pain._

_She threw back her head and screamed as thousands of electric shocks ran through her nerves and cells. Itachi almost screamed with her, shocked at the sudden surge of agonizing electricity coursing through his nerves._

_Kushina's body spasmed as if pricked by thousands of needles, transmitting the same experience into Itachi's mind._

_"TELL ME YOUR HUSBAND'S WEAKNESSES!"_

_Kushina refused to back down and reveal information about the Fourth, she just kept on screaming and screaming until her vocal cords could no longer produce any sound. Itachi's ears rang from her screams, resonating and echoing through his mind._

_"I won't say anything 'ttebane…fuck you monkey cocksucker!" she laughed with what little sound she could provide and was greeted by another painful kick to the face. Itachi was finally able to disconnect once again and succeeded in pacing through the memories. It continued for a while, memories after memories passed through with important snippets slowing down the process, especially one conversation that seemed to never leave Kushina's mind even after a year had passed since it happened._

_"Ahh, feisty as ever. Danzo really outdid himself this time." Onoki's voice rang throughout the mindscape._

This was a memory that continued to flicker in her mind; even in her dreams she heard them.

'Danzo Shimura colluded with the Tsuchikage. This betrayal lingered through her even after four years of imprisonment. This is the reason why Kushina-sama is reluctant to inform the other members of my squad. We don't know for sure who's with Danzo aside from the former elder council.'

Somehow, Itachi wasn't that surprised with this information. The Fourth had been wary of that man along with the rest of the elder council, though for the past four years the three of them had seemed like well-behaved puppies. It was a bit suspicious in Itachi's opinion, however, the Fourth and his advisors thought that the elders were finally satisfied with how the he ran the village.

They had been wrong, so wrong.

* * *

_Itachi blinked as he was once again in the world of darkness. Yet, the thoughts continued. Kushina's thoughts._

'How long was I out cold?'

_A sudden shift happened in the darkness and Itachi could finally see something. The view was horizontal. Kushina was lying on the ground. Her lips were parched and Itachi could feel the pang of hunger in her stomach._

_She was lifeless as she laid there alone. Itachi could feel the harsh coldness of the bare floor as it seeped through Kushina's raw, aching back. He could clearly feel the emptiness the kunoichi was feeling and his stomach lurched in disdain at what the Iwa shinobi, the Tsuchikage, and the traitor Danzo had done to her._

_She was reduced to a lamb awaiting her slaughter, poultry breathing its last lungful before the bloodied knife stole_ _her life away. There was a slight tremor in her body that slowly increased in intensity until she physically shook in time with it._

_Itachi blinked through her eyes as Kushina stared at the empty room of her cell and carved every detail into his mind, every suffering moment she had endured. She wouldn't be alone in this hell. He would be with her at least, even if it was just through her memories._

'It's all a dream, all a dream. Only a nightmare. I'll wake up any second now. Just a dream. Not real, not real. Not real! Minato is still waiting for me. Minato...Minato…' _Kushina's thoughts fleeted in her mindscape._

_Itachi felt and tasted the salty liquid that ran down her cheeks as she cried herself to sleep with images of the Fourth Hokage's sunny smile floating in the recesses of her mind._

Before the torturous memories disappeared and he continued browsing through all of Kushina's memories, one question kept on bugging Itachi's mind.

'How did Naruto survive all of this torture while in his mother's womb? Had it been the Kyuubi's doing?'

* * *

Kushina emerged from the haunting memories of the past four years of her life with a loud gasp. Her breathing was laboured as her body shook on where she sat.

The sudden reintroduction to her most traumatic memories caused her mind and body to be wracked by a panic attack, skin turning far paler than before as her breathing became more and more erratic. She gasped for air, feeling like all the oxygen had been forcefully sucked out of her body, white knuckles unconsciously tightening as sharp nails dug into her own skin.

In the grip of silent panic from the sudden memory assault, her trauma started replaying like a broken record, making her eyes go wide. Pupils dilated, her heart racing as if she just finished running the last lap of a marathon. She almost threw up, her brain feeling like it had been pickled in brine — until she felt two small hands wrap around her arm and heard the voice of her son breaking her out of her panic.

"Mommy!"

Kushina wheezed and panted as if emerging from the deepest pit of the ocean. The first thing that she took note of as she came back from her small panic attack was the abnormal beating of her heart as it thudded painfully inside her chest. She tried to control her breathing, mentally reciting basic breathing exercises to calm the sudden attack.

 _'Take a deep breath in...in…out…in…in...out…'_ She recited like a mantra inside her head, breath slowly calming down after a few moments of inhaling and exhaling. She blinked her eyes open and was greeted by Itachi's onyx eyes.

"Forgive me for the short warning, Kushina-sama, but we're running far shorter on time than I am comfortable with," Itachi apologetically said to her, eyes flickering with so much worry that a grimace appeared on his normally stoic face.

She heavily leaned on the cold wall of the cave and Itachi helped her through with a soothing rub on her back. She nodded in gratitude as she tried to control her breathing.

"I-I understand," she gasped.

Itachi needed the information to know what they were dealing with. He was their only hope.

She may have understood the need for intel, but hadn't been glad to re-experience her past sufferings.

"Kushina-sama." A soft voice called her, and she shakily stared at a pair of onyx eyes filled with overwhelming emotions: Pain, gratitude, admiration, and understanding.

"Thank you for never giving up." A gentle touch on her shoulder, and a squeeze of reassurance and comfort.

That was all Kushina needed at that moment, Itachi understood her, her fears, worries and sufferings. Her lips quirk up in a small smile of gratitude.

Kushina trusted him with her and Naruto's lives and Itachi would do everything in his power to keep them safe.

"Awr you okay mommy?" Naruto worriedly asked, tears already threatening to fall.

They shifted their attention back to him and Itachi respectfully stepped back to give both mother and son a moment.

He could still notice the tremors in Kushina's arms as she hugged Naruto, but it seemed she had it under control. Her face was slowly returning to its original complexion. He sighed in relief.

_'It's time.'_

"We need to go now, Kushina-sama," Itachi said as he unsealed his blanket from the scroll strapped on his hip. ANBU didn't normally carry much during missions, opting to seal all the necessary things they needed inside a scroll to lessen the cargo.

"Itachi-kun..." He looked up, eyes blinking in confusion.

"Yes Kushina-sama?"

Kushina stared at him and sighed. There was something in her eyes that Itachi didn't like at all. Something that wasn't supposed to be there at all.

A look of utter defeat.

"You can't bring me with you, I will only slow you down." His eyes widened in realization as he stared at the bandages surrounding her stomach.

 _'She is too wounded to stand on her own and I can't carry the both of them,'_ Itachi thought as he gazed at the tired-looking woman in front of him.

 _'However, I_ cannot _leave Kushina-sama here.'_ Clenching his fist tight, he racked his mind for a solution.

_'There's got to be a way. There's no such thing as only one option.'_

Another choice to make, another burden dumped on his shoulders. He needed to choose again. He needed to make a decision.

Logically speaking, it would be easier for him to carry Naruto, however, he promised himself that he would protect them. Leaving one behind was out of the question; how would he explain this to the Fourth? There was no excuse he could make. Failure was not an option.

_'Decisions...decisions.'_

He was snapped out of his conflicting thoughts when a loud wail echoed around the cave. Naruto was crying.

"You're going to be a strong shinobi, the strongest there ever was." She placed her hand over Naruto's heart, "I'll always be with you, in here."

"No, No mommy! I will never leave you behind!" Naruto cried as he clutched his mother's arm. "Pwease mommy!"

"Naruto, do you remember the stories I told you about daddy?"

Naruto sniffed before nodding, "Yes, daddy's strong and he loves us. But, daddy's not here mommy."

Kushina hummed and hugged her son.

"Daddy's always been with us, although not physically, but you're meeting him soon."

"I'm…meeting daddy?" The voice was small, barely a whisper as if the very idea was foreign.

"Of course, and you will witness how badass he is. Although he's a bit of a sissy, dattebane!" Kushina chuckled.

"What's a sissy, mommy?"

The innocent question was answered with a bark of laughter. Even Itachi couldn't help but crack a small smile.

"Don't mind that, ask daddy later," Kushina answered between laughter as Naruto looked at her in utter confusion.

"Okay, mommy. I'll ask him later, dattebayo! Once we meet him together!"

Kushina's laughter died down, replaced by a sad smile. She caressed her son's cheek as she stared at him, eyes filled with conflicting emotions.

"Daddy will protect you in my stead."

Kushina's voice echoed around the cave and Itachi snapped his eyes up to stare at the two of them for a few seconds. The gears in his mind finally clicked into place and a sudden epiphany came to him at the mention of the Fourth, making him remember a certain conversation.

"What do you mean, mommy? I'm the one who's goin to protect yah and daddy! We'll be together, ttebayo!"

"Listen to mommy sweetheart. Itachi-niisan can't carry the both of us and I'm wounded so I wouldn't be able to keep up. I'll only slow you down, and with the number of Iwa shinobi pursuing us, we can't afford to slow down," Kushina softly explained to Naruto.

The explanation was lost to Itachi's ears as a plan slowly came to him.

"NO! Mommy, pwease. No, Mommy!"

The child latched his arms around his mother's neck, refusing to let go.

 _'That could work.'_ Itachi thought, gazing at both the mother and son.

"Am not leaving without you!" Naruto wailed louder as he literally bawled his eyes out.

"N-Naruto, y-you need to understand," Kushina choked in her tears, "I-Itachi-kun c-can't c-carry–"

"I could carry you both." The conversation and crying ceased, two pairs of eyes stared at him in surprise.

They seemed to forget his existence, but thanks to their exchange Itachi remembered something that the Fourth Hokage told him once.

Sniffling, the duo stared at him like he had just blurted out the most incredulous thing they had ever heard, like banning ramen in all Elemental Nations.

"W-what? Y-you can't carry the two of us! It will take forever–" Kushina tried to protest, but she was cut off so abruptly that she choked on her own saliva.

"I can and I will." Itachi firmly stated as he stared at the woman seriously.

Kushina was stunned, her expression slowly morphing into a hopeful look.

"H-how?" she whispered, arms tightening around her son.

"Listen closely, here's what we're going to do."

* * *

Back in Iwagakure no Sato, Onoki was barking order after order to his shinobi. His office was in chaos and groups of Iwa-nin were being dispatched one after another.

Ever since he was informed of the Uzumakis' escape, none of the teams he sent had returned to give him an update. Even the patrols who ran after them at the first sound of the alarm still hadn't come back and Onoki was getting anxious.

The door of his office was abruptly opened, and he snapped his head so quickly–making his neck protest–to receive his shinobi's report. Onoki ground and rubbed his neck, staring expectantly at his shinobi.

Two Chunin were standing in front of him looking grim.

"Tsuchikage-sama, we found a group of incapacitated shinobi outside of our country's border. A tracker team was already sent to look for the prisoner's whereabouts an hour ago, but still no one has come back," his shinobi informed him.

"It's been hours since their escape! They're probably out of the Earth country's border by now! What the hell are you standing there for? Get back there and bring me those pesky women and the Jinchuriki!" He screamed in rage, slamming his hands on his desk.

The two Chunin straightened and saluted.

"Y-yes, Tsuchikage-sama!" The two chorused before they ran out of his office, almost tripping in their haste.

He sat heavily on his seat, seething in fury.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Those useless fools!" Onoki hissed only to jump in his seat as the door was once again, slammed open and three other Iwa shinobi rushed inside.

"Tsuchikage-sama, we caught sight of the Jinchuriki, but we couldn't find the Uzumaki women with him," A wounded Chunin reported.

Onoki perked up.

"Where's the Jinchuriki? Did we capture him?" he asked eagerly.

The three shinobi glanced at each other reluctantly.

"W-we apologize Tsuchikage-sama, we were planning to, but we were attacked by a Konoha ANBU wearing a Weasel mask," the one in the middle informed Onoki, his knees shaking as they looked at him in fear.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHY IS THERE A KONOHA ANBU THERE? AND WHY CAN'T YOU DEFEAT A SINGLE ANBU!?"

The three whimpered pathetically, huddling together.

"H-he's very skilled and fast, T-Tsuchikage-sama, and we caught a sight of red and black patterns in his eyes before he threw an explosive tag on us," The Chunin on the left stuttered.

Onoki's eyes narrowed.

"Eyes with red and black patterns, an Uchiha eh? Goddamn it!" He punched his desk in his anger, breaking it in half.

The three Chunin jumped in fright, shaking more visibly than before.

"W-We apologize, T-Tsuchikage-sama. We t-tracked him down once we regained consciousness, but we only saw signs of a battle with five of our shinobi d-dead. Two of them were Jounin level, and there's no sign of the ANBU or the Jinchuriki."

"W-We found blood stains inside a cave, a-and since the Jinchuriki isn't injured, i-it's probably from the Uzumaki women."

The three bowed their heads in shame and fear in front of him and despite not believing it to be possible, his blood pressure went up a notch.

"Then Kushina and Kaoru are alive. Find information on that ANBU you encountered! Give me his descriptions and tell one of our portrait artists to draw his appearance!" Onoki ordered.

The three bowed, "Understood, Tsuchikage-sama!"

"Find our most talented Jounin and send them out to that ANBU's trail, we're up against an Uchiha and those pesky eyes of theirs are a pain to deal with. Tell them not to come back until they have the Jinchuriki with them. Now get out of my office!"

"Y-yes, Tsuchikage-sama!"

The three of them, like the previous duo, immediately scrambled out the door as if the Yellow Flash was out for their lives.

Onoki rubbed his forehead when the door to his office opened, yet again and a huge man entered.

"Tsuchikage-sama," the man greeted, bowing in respect.

"Akatsuchi, I hope you're already aware of the situation," Onoki said, sitting back on his seat while ignoring his destroyed desk.

"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama."

"I have a mission for you." Onoki laced his fingers in front of him, looking grim.

"An Uchiha was protecting our weapon and the Uzumaki women. Lead a group of powerful shinobis and retrieve them. If possible, kill the Uchiha. Make sure that those three don't make it back to Konoha and send a message to that rotten village before you go. Tell them that Iwa is demanding the return of the child immediately or there will be war! We need to get the Jinchūriki before the Yellow Flash lays his eyes on him!" Onoki ordered urgently.

Akatsuchi bowed, "By your command, Tsuchikage-sama." He straightened up and immediately departed from the irate man.

Onoki could only hope for Akatsuchi to succeed, lest they go to war without any tangible advantage and their military power would decline, so much so that Kumo and even Kiri may attempt to take advantage of the situation.

 _'Damn you, Kushina and Kaoru Uzumaki!'_ Onoki cursed the Uzumaki for their vast knowledge in Fuinjutsu and cursed himself for being careless. He shook his fist in frustration.

_"Tch. Damn you, Namikaze!"_

* * *

Like before, the wind was blowing softly, yet the forest was eerily quiet. No chirping birds or the sound of the crickets. It was like the calm before the storm.

Itachi emerged from the cave, carrying a bundle in his arms wrapped securely in a grey blanket, hidden from prying eyes.

He took a deep breath as he sensed several different signatures coming from his fellow Konoha ANBU and another squad of Iwa shinobi heading their way.

"Hold on tight, Naruto," Itachi warned as he concentrated chakra on his legs.

Naruto managed to nod before he leaped through the trees just as a group of Iwagakure shinobi burst from the canopies.

They leaped towards him, aiming to snatch the child from his stronghold. Itachi would not let them.

He pushed chakra into his legs as he jumped from the last branch he leaped on and flipped to the air, kicking each one of their pursuers in the face and using them as leverage to leap through the trees, throwing one explosive kunai behind him to slow down their pursuit for a few minutes. He never looked back, willing his legs to run faster.

There was a loud _'BOOM'_ as the kunai detonated and Itachi dropped down from the trees onto the ground when he was intercepted by the ANBU team.

Ibiki Morino with their ANBU Captain beside him blocked his way. Itachi gazed impassively at the ANBU with the Dog mask who had replaced Kakashi after the Hokage asked him to leave ANBU for his well being.

Silence reigned over for a few seconds, both sides quietly assessing the situation. In the end, the Captain took the first step. Itachi braced himself, desperately trying to think of an escape plan.

"Weasel, stand down!" Dog ordered.

Itachi still remained silent.

"What are you carrying, and why are you being pursued by Iwa shinobi? We were ordered to be discreet and you revealed our presence here," Ibiki asked as the man scanned the bundle in Itachi's arms.

Before they could properly analyze his baggage though, he threw a smoke bomb, forcing his ANBU team to take cover.

Smoke covered the whole area giving Itachi time to escape.

"After him!" Dog commanded as every ANBU jumped into action.

"Weasel! I'm ordering you to stand down. You're going to be charged with insubordination and treason!" Dog boomed.

Itachi didn't relent no matter what they said, he didn't even utter a single word or spare them a glance. Eyes only staring forward while still leaping through trees with his ANBU team hot on his tail. Nobody could be trusted: only his trust in the Fourth was absolute.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes as he and Dog managed to catch up and ran on each of his sides. Itachi immediately noticed the Head of T&I staring at a pair of small legs peeking out of the blanket.

"Is that a child?" Ibiki asked incredulously.

"A child?" Dog balked, almost tripping on his feet in disbelief. He still managed to leap on the next branch without a problem before he focused his attention on the bundle on Itachi's arm, finally taking notice of the child-like shape of the bundle.

Itachi immediately rearranged the blanket in a futile attempt to hide the child's legs, internally scolding himself for being careless.

"Have you lost your mind? Why are you kidnapping a child from Iwa, do you want to start another war!?" The Captain barked at him still, making his own conclusion based on Itachi's pursuers.

He ignored them all and replied with the sound of explosive kunai embedding themselves into trees.

The team of ANBU immediately went on a series of hand signs to protect themselves from the following explosions.

With a single hand seal, Itachi made a few Shadow Clones confuse their pursuers. Leaping through trees at top speed, he made sure that when his ANBU team re-emerged from the smoke, he was long gone.

* * *

In the dim lighting of the room, Danzo sat on his throne-like chair and stared impassively at the ROOT operative that he assigned to infiltrate Iwa.

"Hm, so Onoki was fooled by the Uzumaki women and they're currently on their way back to Konoha with Itachi Uchiha as their escort?" Danzo summarized.

"Yes, Danzo-sama," the masked figure answered.

"Then I'll influence the council to sentence the Uchiha for treason. Tiger, Hawk, and Eagle. Assemble ten of the most skilled operatives and intercept Itachi Uchiha before he arrives in Konoha. Snatch the Jinchūriki, kill the Uchiha prodigy, and bring me his Sharingan eyes," he emotionlessly ordered, lips curling into a smirk at the prospect of a new pair of Sharingan and the power to control the Jinchūriki.

"Understood, Danzo-sama." The kneeling ROOT agent acknowledged and left with a Shunshin to do his master's bidding.

"One more obstacle to eliminate. I'll definitely crush you Minato, and then I'll be Konoha's new Hokage," Danzo murmured with a sinister smile, eyes glinting with wicked desires.

* * *

After making a lot of detours to throw their pursuers off their tracks, Itachi finally made it to the border of the Fire country, they made a quick stop at the small town where Kushina had attempted to complete her B-rank mission four years ago, buying a new medical kit set, paper for the express use of making seals and food for the three of them to eat.

After buying everything they needed, Itachi rented a room at a small inn, paying without confirming how long they were going to stay.

He grabbed the keys and went up the stairs to look for their room without glancing at the shaking clerk in the front desk, not aware of the intimidating aura he was emanating because of his ANBU gear.

He walked down the hallway, looking for their specific room number. Stopping in front of the correct door, he proceeded to unlock it and immediately put Naruto on the small bed once securely inside.

The child quickly emerged from the blanket and gently lay down a small white rabbit he had been cradling in his arms.

There was a gust of smoke as Kushina transformed back into her original body.

Heavy breathing resonated around the small room as Itachi removed his ANBU mask and proceeded to clean and rewrap the woman's wound.

"M-mommy?" Naruto shakingly called out as he tightly clutched his mother's hand.

"I-I'm okay baby," Kushina answered as she drew another seal on a sealing paper that Itachi had bought earlier.

"This will last longer Itachi-kun, however, the stasis for my wound will probably only last for six hours," Kushina informed him.

Itachi nodded as he placed one of the seals directly on the kunoichi's wound and applied it with his own chakra.

Kushina bit on her lower lip to stifle a scream as the seal activated and slowly exhaled in relief. It was the same seal that Kushina used to numb the pain in her wound before they made it to the cave, Itachi clearly recalled.

Once he made sure that Kushina wasn't in so much pain, he grabbed a scroll from his pouch and unsealed the contents, handing Naruto a bento box and another to Kushina who was leaning on the headboard while grabbing a pair of chopsticks. The duo simultaneously opened the lids of their bento box and grinned at each other. Both mother and son proceeded to eat their portions with gusto.

Itachi grabbed his own bento box and started eating his.

"Itachi-kun..." He looked up from his silent eating and was greeted by a watery smile from Kushina.

"Thank you so much, we are forever indebted to you," the woman said.

Uncomfortable with the smile and overwhelmed expression visible on the kunoichi's face, Itachi shoved rice in his mouth in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

"We still need to make it back to Konoha before you can really thank me," Itachi murmured, his well-practiced poker face never wavering as Kushina chuckled in amusement.

"I am still thankful. After all, it's because of your awesome idea that we are still here, together right now," the woman countered followed by a few furious nods from her son.

"Tachi-niisan is amazing!" Naruto enthusiastically exclaimed, making Itachi smile a little as he patted the boy's head.

"I just remembered what the Fourth Hokage told me back then," he said, unconsciously chewing on his food.

"Mm, good thing you had a discussion with him regarding this aspect of the transformation jutsu. This is the kind of information that you don't normally find in books since it's considered a clan secret of some sort."

Itachi stopped chewing. He wasn't aware of that. He just knew that it was an Uzumaki trait, not that it was an uncommon knowledge. In the academy, they were taught that the Transformation Jutsu was a form of Genjutsu that wasn't real.

"Solid transformation to inanimate objects and inhuman forms is unadvisable since it could probably kill a non-Uzumaki shinobi on the spot. Not having human organs and chakra pathways can result in that," he said, biting his last rice ball.

"Yep, solid transformation takes a lot of chakra to maintain for normal shinobi. Transforming into animals, insects, and inanimate objects is a privilege only for those of Uzumaki blood," Kushina replied.

"Hokage-sama told me that the Uzumaki have a huge chakra reserve. That their bodies are made to adapt immediately, the reason why they can immediately survive the solid transformation into inanimate objects. That's also why they're also the most ideal host for a Bijuu," he unthinkingly blabbed, not realizing the kind of topic he was heading towards.

"Hm, you're right. Our chakra coils can easily adapt to the Bijuu's potent chakra," Kushina whispered.

Itachi –noticing the sudden change to her tone– looked up from his food and immediately realized his mistake.

"Ah, I apologize Kushina-sama. That's uncalled for," he immediately said, head bowed.

 _'I slipped.'_ Itachi was tempted to smack his head.

Maybe after this mission, he would haul himself inside his room and reflect over his multiple mistakes.

"No, no, it's alright. Don't worry about it, Itachi-kun." Kushina gave him a smile and he nodded stiffly.

Silence reigned over them as they quietly finished eating. Naruto –who was oblivious to the whole conversation– was still busy enjoying his food.

"Do you still have enough chakra to apply the next seal for the transformation jutsu?" Itachi asked as he closed the lid of his bento box, unaware that he finished eating between his internal musings.

Kushina nodded.

"Maintaining the jutsu in a traditional way is chakra consuming but using seals as leverage and as an anchor for the jutsu to remain in place was a smart way of conserving chakra while still under the jutsu. Minato's a genius for thinking of that," she said while wiping Naruto's messy cheeks.

"I believe that you, creating a seal on the spot just from me sharing Hokage-sama's hypothesis is much more admirable, Kushina-sama," Itachi said matter-of-factly.

Kushina chuckled, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's nothing, dattebane! I'm sure Minato can do that too."

"Maybe, but still admirable, Kushina-sama." Itachi insisted.

"Yah! Mommy's awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto suddenly chimed in, fist-bumping up enthusiastically, apparently only hearing the part where his mom was awesome.

The three of them chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm.

Their meal over, Itachi took a moment to look out the window to where the trees met the horizon. Somewhere in the distance was Konoha, their home.

He gestured towards the Uzumaki's, unable to hide the concern in his voice.

"You two rest for a few hours, and then we have to move. We'll be up at dawn; we should keep moving before the Iwa shinobi find a trail on us again."

* * *

The council had been called as soon as Ibiki had returned to Konoha with news of Itachi's whereabouts and the trouble that looms over their village. Most of the council members were demanding for Itachi's head.

Minato was worried.

He stood in front of the window in the Hokage Tower overlooking the village. His eyes lingered on the Hokage Monument, gazing at each of his predecessor's visages as he contemplated Itachi's actions.

Minato knew that war was coming again; he could feel it in his bones. Something big was happening out there and one of his most talented shinobi was involved.

The former advisors were adamant for Itachi to be sentenced for treason. The civilian council members as well as the Heads of the small clans agreed. The Hyuuga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Inuzuka clans were neutral and refrained from saying anything, though they were probably waiting for his decision. Their faith was greatly appreciated.

The Uchiha's however…

On cue, the door to his office opened and a group of shinobi entered. Minato turned, facing them.

"We are ready to leave, Hokage-sama."

Fugaku Uchiha, in full shinobi attire, stood at attention in front of Minato with two of his trusted shinobi from the Uchiha clan flanking him: Shisui and Obito Uchiha. For non-Uchiha, Genma Shiranui and Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan were among them. These shinobi consisted of Minato's most talented and trusted men.

"I trust that you'll lead Itachi Uchiha to me, unharmed with the child he rescued. He will not speak to anyone but me, do you understand?" Minato's commanding voice boomed around the room as the shinobi straightened in attention and simultaneously answered.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

Minato nodded in acknowledgment as his hands fell behind his back.

"Good luck with your mission," he said.

They bowed one last time before the group flickered out of sight. He could only hope for them all to return alive with Itachi.

***End of Chapter Six***

* * *

_**SyrinxSilenus** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think and if you have questions, ask away! 


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